Project Flarestorm
by FlameAmigo619
Summary: Stranded on a barren wasteland, a team of soldiers must defend their fort from a dangerous virus. They explore the wasteland for artifacts and brave the sandstorms with powerful technology on their side. I hope to hear your thoughts. Criticism is welcome. Inspired and based by/on RPM and Jak 3.
1. The Lost Falconite Part 1

_A/N: Le gasp! What have we here? ANOTHER series? Well this series was here far before SPB and Mythic Knights were conceived. Years ago I created three characters: Kayden, Leyla, and Bastion. They were originally going to be a team of dimension crossing heroes for hire that teamed up with Sonic, Shadow, Mario, and Luigi to save their planet and that turned into Xtreme Heroes Episode 1 and the unfinished episode 2. Let's just say that I could do much better. I then made the Wolf Paladin and that was intended to be a prequel to Xtreme Heroes, giving the three their backstory. A LOT has changed in the past few years and now that Mythic Knights and Space Patrol Beta are working, I thought to myself: Let's see if we can bring back my three characters to where they properly belong. One day these three series shall meet and it WILL be epic. The black font indicates Kayden's point of view._

**PROJECT FLARESTORM  
EPISODE 1: The Lost Falconite Part 1  
WRITTEN AND EDITED BY ZAK KAYES**

**Every night…I have dreams. But for every dream we share…an equally chilling nightmare awaits in the shadows…**

Even when he was sure of himself, Kayden was still unsure to fall asleep. Darkness would last for a few moments and then slowly the sounds would begin to enter his ears. The intoxicating smell entered his nostrils and it was usually the first to make him open his eyes. A wolf, aged eighteen, found himself on the ground. That was all his eyes could see for the moment before he moved his arms and planted his palms into the ground to help get himself to his feet. His chest was covered by a black tank top and matching black jeans. His boots looked old as his fingerless gloves. At his belt was a holster for a weird looking blaster with the shape of a wolf head at the end. His hair was fluffy with little red streaks at the end that fluffed out in the back.

The wolf's dull and nearly faded black fur seemed to glow amongst the glow of the flames around him. Flames, he wondered? His head moved with his eyes to his surroundings but his eyes did not widen out of surprise. It was if he had seen this all before. Huts and houses, lit aflame with the charred, mutilated remains of several townsfolk; all the same. Kayden briefly turned around to see what was behind him and it was what he had expected: the same thing. His eyes turned to the hill in the distance with a grand castle perched on top. Wandering eyes pierced through the smoke to see a massive creature by the castle, proceeding to break through its force field. Wasting no time, Kayden began to race along the ground towards the hill.

He found himself momentarily stopped and he skidded for a second. There were strange silhouettes roaming around, even snaking on the charred remains of some townsfolk. They turned to notice Kayden and roared at him. The wolf was quick to pull the blaster from his holster and press a button on the side. He swung the blaster and a blade extended from the head of it. The roars stopped and Kayden got into a stance.

"Just try me." he said with a confident smirk.

The three creatures charged and Kayden moved in quickly. From the palm of his raised hand, a fireball shot out and struck one of the creatures, making it explode into smoke. Kayden sliced through the second beast before side stepping the third's attacks. He dodged and overhead swipe and his slice connected, making the third explode as well. The wolf looked behind him before continuing his pace towards the hill. It didn't take him very long to reach the castle courtyard and for his eyes to notice the corpses of the royal guards. Though it pained him, he raced through the courtyard and up the stairs to the door that had been blasted open. He could hear the roar of the beast trying to break the castle and realized he had little time. Navigating his way through corridors and falling rubble, he finally made it to the top of the castle roof to see the large beast break through the force field. The creature was massive, nearly towering over him, devoid of any color. Its hands were burly and it's arms burly. Fear was replaced by adrenaline as Kayden stood his ground, wielding his weapon.

"Whoever you are, you're going right back where you belong!" yelled Kayden.

The beast chuckled lowly before raising both of its massive hands to try and smash the wolf. The wolf quickly evaded and shot out a blast of fire at its hands. Kayden did his best in dealing strong slices into the arm but couldn't seem to break past its rock-hard skin. The creature backhanded Kayden into one of the pillars and aimed a fist at the wolf. Kayden was barely able to dodge and used his roll to shoot out another burst of flame that connected with the creature's arm. Kayden looked to see the titan open its mouth and launch black fireballs at him which were sliced seconds later by the wolf's weapon. Now was the time, he thought. He jumped onto the creature's arm and raced up it, keeping his balance and evading the other fist. Now onto the massive shoulder, he dodged more flames from the mouth and deflected them back, stunning the titan. Wasting no time, Kayden began slicing as quick as he could into the head, finally breaking past some of the armor. He doused the exposed skin with fire and then pressed the trigger on the gun part of his weapon, making the blade glow green. He made one strong cleave with the blade and shattered the head armor off the beast.

"Gotcha!" said Kayden before yelping as he was tossed off.

The wolf landed with a thud on the roof of the castle as the titan roared in pain. It looked down at Kayden and dealt a hard punch that sent Kayden crashing through a pillar. Kayden got to his feet and held his ribs for a moment, aware of his injuries. He was ready to strike again until the titan stopped moving and looked up. Kayden looked up as well and this time his eyes DID widen at the site. It was an even LARGER version of the titan he was facing, nearly as big as the whole planet. Its piercing roar rocked the earth and Kayden held his head, trying to block the sound. He grunted as he nearly dropped to the ground but shook it off and looked up to see the creature in the sky's fist descend and slam into the ground miles away. The roaring had stopped and when the fist had collided, the entire planet shook. Kayden dropped back with a thud and grunted. The earth itself began to crack and the tremors tore through. Looking up, the mouth of the titan opened and began to suck up chunks of the earth. Kayden looked to the creature on the ground and watched as it moved up into the air, seemingly vanish into the other creature's mouth. Kayden quickly made a run for one of the pillars and grabbed onto it, holding on for dear life.

He couldn't hold on for long. The wolf's scream was silenced within moments as he vanished into the mouth, becoming engulfed with darkness and vanishing from the shattering world.

**Every night…I have dreams and it's the same thing, every night. I can't escape it. I can't think of anything else and I have no idea what it means. What is true in this nightmare and what isn't? I just don't-…I don't understand. I can't even remember the last few years of my life. It's a glaring gap in my timeline that I come so close to finding and yet fail every time. Fate played its best hand for me and it saw that I never return to the life I once had. One second seems like an eternity, hours turn into seconds, and memories flow like a river through my mind. They're never in the right order…so how am I supposed to know what these little flashes here and there mean? Are they even real? Maybe I ask too many questions but can you really blame me? All these questions I face as, day by day, I can feel the darkness lurking closer and closer to consume me. Only through the actions of a friend and a serum am I able to combat it. I feel though that I am only delaying the inevitable. So now I ask myself: Where does my story end? Where does this tale of a tragic hero begin and where does it show the link to MY past? I'd know it…if the person who I knew and loved was alive to tell me. In life there are no happy endings. No one rides off victoriously into the sunset and no one lives happily ever after. Call it what you will, but it is still what it is: Reality. I don't know why I was forced down this path nor do I remember the turmoil or the pain I went through to get me here. Maybe, for the best, I shouldn't know. My story is not for the faint of heart. It is not a book that can simply be opened to explore. It is not a vast lake of pure water to dive into.**

The wolf suddenly jolted up, letting out a startled gasp, awakening from his sleep. He panted for a few moments before taking a breath and slowly laying back down on the bed.

**My name is Kayden Seyak and my story has yet to be told.**

~!~!~!~

The sound of knocking came from the other side of the room the wolf resided in.

"Yeah?" he yelled.

"It's Leyla!" said a female voice from the door. There was a hint of a British accent to it. "Wakey, wakey, sleepy wolfie!"

The wolf's amber eyes slowly awoke before removing the covers of his bare fur to sit up. His head tilted down as his arms crossed over his legs. His tail swayed on the covers as he brought his arms to the back of his head to ruffle his hair, causing a small yawn. His eyes slowly adjusted to the dimly lit room. A bed was placed against the wall with a window following adjacent. Below was a table with a chair, a few pieces of machinery, and a small blue book. Across from the bed was a small closet holding the wolf's clothes, keepsakes, and a small gray box.

"Come on in." he said.

The door opened and he turned his head to see a young vixen in the door frame. She walked to him with her braided tail swishing lazily behind her. She was about Kayden's size and age with yellow fur and orange accents. Her body was well toned and muscular from her intense training as she wore a simple cyan tube top and brown vest to show. Her dark brown eyes glowed lightly with a hint of yellow and she moved her long hair away from her eyes. On her wrist were a detachable keypad communicator and various other gadgets Kayden hadn't bothered to count.

"You alright?" she asked, walking over to him.

"Yeah. Kinda just woke up."

"It's almost eleven. You don't usually wake up this late."

There was an awkward silence. "…bad dream."

"You better take your serum then." the vixen advised.

The wolf slid off the bed slowly to an upright position before opening the closet door and picking up the gray box. Placing it on the table, Kayden slowly turned the light up to get a better view of what he was doing. The boxes contents, when opened, showed several vials of black liquid, each marked in code. In his right hand was an injector device with a knob on the front and on the top a place to hold the vials. The vial on the far right was picked and tilted down into the top which clicked into place. Flipping it over, Kayden closed his eyes and placed the knob near his bicep before pulling the button on the bottom, injecting the vial's contents into his bloodstream.

"Nngghhh!" the wolf exclaimed as he gripped his arm in pain.

Leyla watched, her expression changing for a split second before it returned to a blank expression.

"At least now you're not on the floor biting into a belt." she remarked, patting his shoulder.

He panted heavily, waiting for the pain to subside before putting everything back and taking clothes out from his closet.

**I've been living on this desert planet for only a few months now. This fort on a god forsaken battlefield stands little chance but apparently Hunter thinks I have some potential. Day by day the Shadows keep increasing and they get stronger each time. Instead of just the soldiers, we've had to deal with the brutes, flyers, snakes, and the occasional invasion every day. They have no leader but seem to act on their own poisoned agenda. Slaves to the schedule. This just makes finding the artifacts during the sandstorms much harder. That's usually how the day goes by. Wake up, get a mission, head out to the desert, retrieve artifacts, fight off Shadows, defend the fort, test out something for Leyla, and then go back to sleep. But hey, at least it offers SOME variety.**

Sitting on the edge of the bed he slipped on black pants and a black sleeveless shirt. Reaching for the door, he took off the jacket hanging from the wall and then grabbed his belt from the edge of the bed, snapping it quickly onto his waist. He took a moment to look around before pressing a button on the back of the desk, opening a compartment on the side which held a blaster with a wolf symbol on the side and a wolf head for the front.

"How's your Defender?" she asked.

"It needs a little more tweaking. The super-charge function drains it's battery a little too quickly."

"Well we have self-sustaining energy crystals now. Thanks to you."

Kayden grabbed his communicator and pocketed before looking in the mirror. He blinked and then looked around for a moment and turned to Leyla who had goggles dangling from her finger.

"Looking for these?" she teased.

Kayden made a grab for them but she moved her finger away and looked the wolf in the eyes before placing them on his forehead. She flicked his nose before turning around to walk out the door.

**Even in these dark times, Leyla's humor seems to be the only thing that keeps my "confidence" up. I met her when I was first brought here and she took a liking to me. She's one of the most skilled mechanics I've ever met and on the field, she's a deadly opponent. I wouldn't blame myself for thinking's she's the total package. She designed my arsenal and the Fort's defense system, including the Protoseries GX Battle Suits. While she might throw you off with the technical jargon explanation, they are basically suits that can enhance the wearer's abilities. I haven't had the chance to test one out yet. There's still much I don't know about her but I feel I know enough.**

The two of them started walking together down the corridor. There were many other rooms for the higher ranking soldiers. Out of the corridor they went and down the steps to the main area of the fort. Many other soldiers surrounded the area, training, working, talking, and living their lives in a medium-sized environment.

"I needed the rest." said Kayden. "I'm not a 24/7 defender like you."

Leyla giggled at the comment. "Did you sleep alright last night?"

"Like a baby." He retorted. "I take it that explosion last night was you?"

She rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Yyyyyyeahh...hehe...I accidentally cross wired the frequency junction box wires with the light calibrator and one twist here, one click there..." She made a boom gesture with her hands.

"You woke up a lot of people."

"Well sorry, I was on a deadline. Hunter wanted the shield systems fixed before dawn and I tried something new."

Kayden shook his head with a light smirk. "What did you do this time?"

They crossed over a bridge, leading to the inner part of the fort which passed by Leyla's workshop.

"Well last night, I decided to add a new matrix code into the system, just to make it last longer and reserve energy for the turrets. So I took some of the crystals from the Shadows we took out a few weeks ago that almost got through the shields and grinded them into a powder. I added them to a polymolta stone that I had fixed and decided to boost the shields up for a test."

Most of the stuff went right over his head. "And then?"

"...one little miscalculation. I threw the stone at the wall, thinking it would break the shield down...but instead it got deflected and blew up in the air."

"Uh huh...when's the last time you slept?" The wolf continued, keeping his regular pace next to Leyla.

"Three days ago and you know, it would have helped to, say, watch my six while we were out there last time."

Kayden shrugged. "Not my fault the rookie can't use a stick shift."

"He's not a rookie!" laughed Leyla. "Come on, Rodney has skills."

The wolf looked back at her.

"Ok, bad choice of words." She rubbed the back of her head. "But he's learning. I thought Hunter gave him to you as your responsibility to train since he couldn't."

**And sometimes I wonder WHY he didn't want to train him. Hunter is the leader of this fort and has built a considerable reputation as a desert warrior. I've learned a lot from him in terms of fighting techniques. Ever since he took me under his wing, I've felt some connection to him. Some sense of actual belonging. Do I admire him? Yes. Do I trust him? With my life. And he would do the same for me or for anyone in this fort. He's a voice to the soldiers here and that's a voice that keeps us all going when the odds are heavily not in our favor. His son, Rodney, is one of the most headstrong guys I've ever met. Since Hunter trained me, he said that I "owed" him. This was not what I was expecting.**

"The kid has barely any actual talent." remarked Kayden. "He doesn't carry any of Hunter's abilities. I don't see why I have to train him."

"Well because you're the best Hunter has, right?" questioned Leyla, arms crossed neatly across her chest. "I mean, why didn't he choose me?"

"I'm not sure. Honestly, I don't know what he sees in me."

Kayden came to a makeshift elevator and the person at the top activated the lift.

"Well I see a handsome, daring, courageous wolf that has more heart than anyone else I've ever known." She giggled and nudged him. "But maybe if you stop practicing the whole 'brooding bad boy' thing in the mirror every morning then I'd probably say more."

"Brooding bad boy? That's original."

~!~!~!~

As the elevator arrived at the top, a small corridor led to a door guarded by two soldiers. They nodded and opened the door to let both Leyla and Kayden through to the Observatory. Standing at the end by the main window was a robed figure. His long panther tail hung silently from the black and blue trims at the bottom of his robe. As the vixen and wolf approached, he turned around to face them. His sword sheath, hanging loosely from his waist, barely moved. His robe was open to reveal nothing but his bare chest and cross necklace. His hair was long, wavy, and blue like his fur. Age and war had taken the toll on his face as if it was carved from cold rock. Kayden and Leyla bowed before the panther.

"You asked for us, Hunter?" asked Leyla.

The panther nodded. "I've received word that an entrance leading down into the mountains was uncovered during last week's sandstorm. You brought the laptop right, Leyla?"

She nodded and set it up on the table. "Energy mass spectrometers detected a large energy reading from within the cave before but today…it's stronger than usual."

Kayden crossed his arms. "Let me guess. You want me to go down there and check it out?"

"Not just you and Leyla but Rodney as well." replied Hunter. "Who knows? We might be able to find something useful down there."

"That doesn't give us a lot of time." Kayden pointed at the computer grid. "There's a sandstorm coming in from the Dunes with high particle levels. Wind speed is at 50 nanos."

"50?" questioned the panther.

"Let's just say that it can rip armor." continued the wolf. "The entrance is only a few miles from our base so if we make it to the cave before the sandstorm hits, we should be safe."

"Glad to see you're catching on, hun." grinned Leyla, looking up at Kayden.

"Well you make things interesting." he remarked. "Better than some of the other bots at least."

"Good," Hunter cut on. "Then I suggest both you check it out soon."

"Yes sir. Right away." Leyla saluted for a moment then nudged the wolf with her tail before walking away.

"Can't keep your eyes off her, can you?" remarked Hunter, turning away to go back to the window.

Kayden scoffed. "Her? Sir, with all due respect, she's your mechanic."

"Ah I'd say she's yours."

"As is your son for the moment."

Hunter chuckled lightly. "I figured you were staying behind to say something about him rather than small talk."

"It's not that, sir." Kayden joined Hunter's side. "I have trained him for a month now; he's nowhere near as good as you are. He's not willing to listen to much that I have to say. Are you sure you want ME to train him?"

"I'm certain Kayden. " the panther's eyes turn to Kayden's eyes. "You may not see something, but despite that, I believe he is ready for Series Blue."

**The Protoseries GX are given color names for their abilities: Red Turbo, Blue Timer, Black Toro, Green Tele, and Yellow Particle. Their codes are VERY specific and only accept one person's DNA just in case someone else tries to use it. Once the user wears it, their DNA code is imprinted onto it and it can't be erased, as far as I know. Now she tried each of the suits out and Red works with Hunter, Yellow for her. What really gets me is that despite my requests for Series Black, no one has been able to handle how powerful-**

"Something on your mind, Kayden?" asked Hunter.

"Hmm?" he turned his head to look at the panther. "I trust what you think, Hunter. I'm sorry for doubting."

"It's fine. Loosen up a little, pup."

The wolf had half turned before looking back. "Don't call me pup."

~!~!~!~

The elevator stopped down at the ground floor, nearby the walls surrounding the town. Kayden and Leyla emerged walking over to the large garage area. Various vehicles were parked in the corners of the room including hovercrafts, jet cycles, hyper ATVs, hover boards, digging vehicles, a lot of machinery none the less. Leaning against one of the hovercrafts was a young panther, similar to Hunter. Dew rag on his head, dark green hoody with the sleeves cut off, long cargo pants that matched his tape wrapped hands, and a cocky smile. Just your average, getting ready for action, still kinda wet behind the ears, rookie.

"Didn't think you'd guys show up at all." remarked Rodney.

Leyla grinned and went over to her hovercraft. "Well we won't want to miss a big, scary, underground cavern entrance would we?"

The panther laughed. "True dat!"

Rodney followed while Kayden walked over to his motorcycle: The Turbo Cycle. The wheels had been taken off and there were two pads; one being on both areas where the wheels would be. The seat was slanted for faster speed. The wolf ran his hand along the seat before sitting in it and pressing his hand against a small compartment. A mechanical click was heard and the engine roared to life. Leyla's own engine came to life shortly after.

"Dude, we totally trashed all of those Shadows last time!" laughed the young panther. "I was like-"

Kayden shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Save it, kid. We got a job today."

"As always." said Rodney. "You don't gotta be so straight to the point, mister serious. I'm just trying to bring some excitement to all of this."

The cycle's engine revved up, causing the Turbo Cycle to levitate off the ground. Kayden took his goggles and slipped them down onto his face before rocketing out of the garage into the desert. The hovercraft quickly followed behind him.

**The desert is always dangerous at this time of day. This ocean of fire, a barren torn battleground with arms wide open to swallow the dead, becomes a perilous labyrinth. Sandstorms sweep over the ground, revealing anew and destroying the old, and with only hours in between, to go into the desert then would be suicide. But hey, somebody's got to do it and that leaves us. I never quite understood why Hunter tells us to go out to the desert during these crucial hours. These artifacts, some weapons while others are merely priceless objects, meant a lot to the city's history. So in a way, we're doing something good. But these storms keep getting worse and worse and the last one almost ripped the metal off of my Turbo Cycle. We've only covered a fraction of this desert. Both Hunter and I are hoping we can get all the artifacts before the desert swallows them up. Something tells me though things are gonna be a little different.**

Well out into the desert, Kayden drove his cycle closer to Leyla.

"How far are we from the cave entrance!" he yelled above the engines.

"Not far! I think we're getting close to it now!"

Kayden nodded and sped ahead of Leyla's hovercraft. Rodney watched and leaned back on the seat.

"I still don't get why he has to be such a hard-ass with me sometimes." he said.

"Well you get on his nerves." she replied, focusing on the desert ahead. "His patience is wearing out for you."

The young panther shook his head and slouched back, having his arm hang out the side. "Well excccuuuuuuuuussseeeee me! Sorry if he can't see the awesome potential that my father knows I have. I can take on any of these Shadows!"

Leyla turned her head to him. "You see?" She pointed at him. "That right there. That right there is why Kayden doesn't like you. You think you're everything but pretty soon, that ego is gonna be cut down to size faster than a short circuit."

Rodney didn't have much time to respond before Leyla's scanner started beeping. "Speak of the devil."

Quickly looking down, Leyla brought out her communicator. "Kay! We got company!"

Black mist appeared behind them, right on their heels. The hovercraft and Turbo Cycle stopped nearby the cave entrance. Several different black creatures in armor materialized, surrounding the outer area of the cave. They looked like humans only grotesquely mutated. The area behind them turned to white and a barrier formed. The wolf powered down his cycle before dismounting it, removing his jacket and pushing up his goggles.

"They just never quit, do they?" remarked the panther.

Leyla and Rodney got out of the hovercraft, Leyla flipping open her wrist mounted device. "Nah, they probably just miss us."

"Then let's welcome them back," The wolf drew his Wolf Defender and got into a stance. "Properly."

"I hear that." laughed the vixen, punching in a code on her device before detaching it, spinning it in her hand. "HENSHIN!" She yelled, sliding the device's bottom disc down her arm.

A hologram shield came out from the scanner port. She placed her hands at her side as the shield passed through her, covering her body in dark yellow and black armor. A helmet opened from the top of the suit and closed around her head, lights shining from the top of her visor.

"This time, try and keep these guys off my back!" she yelled, her voice altered through the suit's helmet.

The wolf nodded and turned back to Rodney. "Let's go rookie."

Rodney grumbled before retrieving two tanfa from the backseat, activating the energy blades on the end. "I'll show HIM rookie..."

The shadows came in fast from the left and right. Although outnumbered at first, the trio was far from outmatched. One Shadow made a wild leap for the vixen and was given a swift uppercut that sent it flying into the air, de-materializing. She ran forward and leaped over a Shadow, grabbing his head and slamming it down into the ground. Behind her, another Shadow was ready to leap out. As it did, Leyla pressed a button on her wrist, causing a bo staff to materialize in her hands. And that poor Shadow never saw it coming. While other Shadows attempted to attack, Leyla's arsenal of gadgets did only the best. Shock mines and electron pulse blasters combined with her deadly precision with her bo staff and electromagnetic powers, Shadows were being taken down by the second.

Rodney wasn't having as much luck. His attacks were countered and he was being tossed around wildly like a rag doll; an explosion slamming him hard into the wall.

"RGGGH! COME ON ALREADY! THINK DAMN IT!"

Kayden's own battle was getting his attention. Remembering some of what he had learned, Rodney mounted an offense, attacking from the air. Shadows leaped in the air, Rodney sliced through their armor and landed on the ground, running forward to block a slash followed with a spin strike. It was slow but still, it was effective.

The wolf stood his ground with a large chunk of the Shadows. He pressed a button on the side of his Wolf Defender, the wolf head opening and he swung the blaster, activating the blade. He flipped forward on his hands and drove both of his feet into one Shadow sending it crashing into the others. One tried to restrain Kayden but the wolf grabbed the Shadow's arm, flinging it forward easily, slicing it in half. In the process, Kayden landed on the ground.

Another Shadow tried to stomp him but Kayden knipped up, side stepping one of their kicks and grabbing the leg. Kayden simply shook his head and smashed his elbow down on the leg, throwing the Shadow into the others. He dealt a leg sweep to another Shadow and stabbed it, making it vanish. Kayden quickly leaped back and pressed a button on top of the Defender. He held the defender like a rifle and stood back as an energy ball charged up on the front of the blaster.

"SPECTRE BLAST!"

The ball shot out of the Defender like thunder, tearing through the Shadows with ease. Leyla and Rodney leaped next to Kayden and they fought off the remainder of the Shadows. But just as they finished, even more appeared.

"Damn it! They just keep coming!" She yelled as she twisted a button on her staff, making a blade come out from the tip.

"Any bright ideas?!" asked Rodney.

"Always." She replied. "Let's see how they like THIS!"

The bottom of her boots charged up and propelled her into the air. Her armor began to gather electricity and small bombs began flying out, landing in the crowd of Shadows. Kayden quickly grabbed Rodney and took shelter behind a boulder.

"What the hell now?!" Rodney yelled, covering his head.

The battlesuit began to whir and she began to spin at a furious speed. The vixen's gathering electricity gathered inside the blade as the spinning and whirring increased.

"FULL POWER!" she yelled, suddenly diving down to the ground. "MAELSTORM!"

The blade jabbed into the ground and lightning erupted from the staff, triggering the bombs that exploded throughout the swarm, exploding around her. The ground trembled at the power as a blinding light eclipsed the area. As the light died down, only the vixen stood standing. The panther's hair stood up on its end as he and Kayden emerged from behind the boulder.

"Power down." She said, causing the suit to turn into pixels, coming back into the device. She dropped down onto her knee, clutching her chest breathing heavily. "...Whew...that's a rush."

"You ok?" asked Rodney.

She nodded slowly before taking a few deep breaths, looking down at her Trigger. "I didn't know there would be so much kickback this time. I programmed my Trigger to unleash Maelstorm when enough electrons were gathered. Series Yellow's electromagnetic kinetic particle disruptor can only charge up a certain amount of electrons before it short circuits." She took a few breaths. "Electricity is very hard to control, guys."

"Trust me, we know." replied the panther, pointing to his hair.

Kayden holstered his Wolf Defender. "Shouldn't we be checking out the cave?"

Leyla nodded and headed back to the hovercraft, retrieving some gear. "I agree, the sandstorm could hit any minute now."'

~!~!~!~

Time seemed to stop the moment the crew stepped through the entrance. The walls were stained from erosion by the menacing velocity of the sandstorms. A thick, pungent smell lined the air inside as the trio slowly entered into the cave. Rodney was quick to cover his nose and step back.

"YEEESHH! Who dropped the stink bomb in here?"

Leyla rolled her eyes, opening her Trigger and slowly sweeping it across the room. "Hmm...no vapors...no airborn toxins...nothing to worry about so far." She went to one of the walls and scrapped some of the substance off, scanning it with her Trigger. "Walls are a little unstable due to erosion. There are traces of sulfur...cheap granite...diatomaceous earth..." She sniffed nearby it. "...And it all smells REALLY bad."

Kayden was the next to walk in. "I checked the comp; the sandstorm will be arriving in 20 minutes."

"Right." she said. "Then let's take some samples first for the lab-RODNEY!"

Rodney withdrew his hand.

"Don't. Touch. ANYTHING."

"Sorry...might as well wait at the craft then..." he mumbled, walking out of the cave.

Kayden contemplated for a moment before going back to Leyla, sitting down on a rock. He looked back to make sure nobody was listening.

"How is the serum working?" she asked.

"The pain seems to have died down a bit." He reached his arm forward, sliding the jacket sleeve up to show the very faint dark purple pulsing under his fur. "But it's getting harder to control. How much longer until that antidote?"

She sighed before taking the last sample. "Chemistry is not one of my best subjects. I've been trying to develop some sort of counter isotope that could kill the Shadow genes."

"What about my DNA? Shouldn't mine have the isotype you need?"

The vixen shook her head. "I wish it was that simple. But it's not strong enough. I've looked up practically every medical journal, log, record, you name it. But no matter how many different DNA Shadow strand combinations I use, I can't find a way to suppress the Shadow genes in you long enough to take the virus out permanently."

Kayden knelt down and looked at her. "Sorry if there's too much pressure. It's just...all the serum is doing is keeping it from entering my bloodstream. I stop taking this that virus gets in me and the secret is out. I'm a Shadow for life."

"I know, I know...the only other thing i can think of is that journal. You know, the one on Shadow Mutuation that Professor Francis Geno wrote. Now, if I had that, this would be much easier."

Kayden went a little deeper into the cave, shining a light down the dark corridor. At the end laid a giant stone door with faintly glowing inscriptions symbols.

"Hey Ley."

The vixen turned to the door and paused before slowly standing up. "Woah...is this what I think it is?" She walked next to Kayden and scanned the wall with her Trigger. "It's in Falconi...I thought that language was dead for a long time now."

"Can you translate it?"

Leyla's Trigger continued to sweep over the inscriptions, the symbols being shown on the front screen. Her eyes attended to the device and door but her ears were solely focused on Kayden.

"Well...I can scan the rest of this and take it back to base. But I don't know if the next sandstorm will cover this up again."

Kayden scoffed. "So? We put a marker here and we dig it up again."

The Trigger beeped and Leyla stood up, finally bringing her eyes to his. "Kayden, I'm not willing to take that chance. You've seen how vicious the storms have been getting. This whole cave is unstable because of the erosion. The next storm could collapse it and then this place would be lost."

"You've got a better idea then? I don't think either one of us want to be ripped apart if we just stand here and argue. We should get back to base with the door's data and then compare it to any of the inscriptions on the artifacts."

A silence fell on the cave for a moment before she broke eye contact and smirked. "Sometimes you amaze even me..." She walked past him and began making her way to the cave entrance.

Kayden followed but his ear twitched to an unknown sound. The wolf looked up and noticed a faint glimmer in the sky, getting bigger as it descended down past them. The large mass tore through the sky with screeching velocity set ablaze by the entrance to the planet. Flying over the hill nearby them, it crashed into the side of the mountain. The tremor shook the cave's foundation emitting roars from deep within the cave, sending sand flying everywhere. Both Kayden and Leyla rushed out to the vehicles, Rodney already covering his face.

"The storm is getting worse!" yelled Rodney. "We only have 5 minutes!"

Leyla's Trigger started beeping, showing a face of Hunter.

"I take it you saw the meteorite." said Hunter.

"No duh!" yelled Rodney. "That thing was friggin' huge!"

"You don't have any time to check it out. The storm's strength is already up to Level 3. Get out of there now and get back to base."

"But-" protested Leyla.

"If you stay out there any longer, you'll be easy fodder for the Shadows. I'm not asking you Leyla. That is an order."

Leyla sighed. "Yes, sir..."

The device clicked off, she stood there for a minute unsure of what to do. Kayden was the first to move, heading to his vehicle.

"Where do you think you're going?" she said.

"That didn't look like a meteorite or a Shadow Spire, Leyla. It was a ship. There could be people."

"Are you out of your mind!? Didn't you even hear what Hunter said? So what if it was a ship? You're insane! You go there; you'll be dead within minutes! And even if you could get to them, where the hell are you going to stay?"

"I'll head back to the cave and stay there till the storm dies down." He sighed. "Listen, please, don't argue. Just go back with Rodney. Once the storm is over, you'll know where to find me. I can handle this."

She crossed her arms. "Then give me one good reason why I should let you risk your life for something you know nothing about?"

Kayden simply stared at the vixen. "Because you did the same thing for me."

A silence fell once again on them until Leyla nodded, going to her friend, hugging him and then running back to the hovercraft. "You know me too well hun."

Kayden leapt onto his Turbo Cycle and revved the engine, heading out into the dangerous storm.


	2. The Lost Falconite Part 2

**PROJECT FLARESTORM  
EPISODE 2: The Lost Falconite Part 2  
WRITTEN BY ZAK KAYES**

The sand storm whistled around the wolf's fur as his Turbo Cycle drilled through the tearing sand storm. Kayden accelerated further but he could hear the engine start to groan. He knew he didn't have much time. Following the falling object's path wasn't too hard, thanks to the rubble that had laid a path up a hill. As the cycle stopped at the top of the hill, Kayden stared out at the approaching sandstorm. The wind had already begun to swirl the sand up around the mountains and ravines. Looking down through the smoke, Kayden tapped his shoes together and glided down to the bottom. An escape pod, badly damaged and on fire, had its front end submerged in the rocks. He looked around; examining the ship and found a strange symbol on the side. Something clicked in the back of his mind but the wolf wasn't sure what it was.

As he circled around the craft, the wolf was surprised to find a body lying on its side in a hooded brown cloak. He immediately knelt down and began examining the body. Drawing the hood back, the face of a young blue and black falcon teen was seen. Kayden's head tilted for a moment as he put his hand on the falcon's neck. A pulse…just barely, he thought to himself. The wolf gently put the falcon's body onto his shoulders. His communicator started beeping, signaling seven minutes before the sandstorm arrived. He summoned his Turbo Cycle and it hovered down to him, Kayden placing the falcon's body on the second built in seat. With a roar from the engine, the cycle made its way back to the cave.

**~!~!~!~**

Leyla's hovercraft made it through the garage doors just as they were closing. Rodney, who had been covering himself with a blanket, removed the blanket and shook it out, shaking his fur of the loose sand pellets. The vixen parked the craft next to the others and climbed down, dusting herself off. The elevator doors had just opened and Hunter was making his way over to them.

"Where's Kayden?" he asked.

"He stayed behind." she replied. "Checking out where that meteorite crash landed."

Hunter simply shook his head. "Stubborn as always."

Rodney clambered out of the hovercraft. "Well he hardly ever follows the rules, dad."

"You should have stopped him, Leyla." the panther commander said sternly.

"I didn't." she said.

"Why? All three of you had orders to return to base."

"He said he was doing the same thing Leyla did for him." said the young panther.

Hunter paused.

"Yeah...I'm still lost on that." added Rodney with a nervous laugh.

"I won't be able to send anyone out until this storm dies down." said Hunter. "From the looks of it, this one could last quite a while. I'd suggest you get some rest, Rodney."

The young panther scoffed. "I still have a bed time, really Dad? The night is still young and I'm not even tired."

"Well if you're not tired, you could go and clean the mess hall. Nobody has bothered to clean it in about a week."

"...on second thought, that bed sounds really tempting right now."

Rodney quickly made his way to the open elevator car and it transported him back upstairs. Leyla took in a heavy breath and gripped her arm, looking down.

"Did you find the source of the energy readings?" asked the panther commander.

The vixen pulled out her Trigger and showed him. "Yeah, it was some kind of door with inscriptions on it. No handles or any way to open it. Get this though, it was in Falconi."

"Falconi?" inquired Hunter. "…as in the language of the Falconites, I'm guessing?"

"I've got about half of the inscriptions on the door on my Trigger. I'll start the translation process tonight and maybe, if we're lucky and the cave hasn't caved in from the storm, we can go back out there and get the rest."

"Good work. What about the battlesuits? Is Series Blue-"

"Hunter." She interrupted. "I know you see a lot of potential in Rodney but..."

"But?"

"…Permission to speak truthfully?"

Hunter reluctantly nodded.

"He's cocky." she started. "I know you and Kayden have been training him but he's not a soldier like you. He complains all the time; he's lazy and obnoxious; in all honesty he's not worth Series Blue. Maybe Green if he at least opens his ears and shuts his mouth, not to mention…he needs to finish learning the basics."

"I didn't know it was that serious." said the commander. "What about Series Black?"

"It's still in the prototype stages. It's very powerful with all of its strength and speed. It'll take more strength then Rodney has now to even have the battlesuit materialize on him."

Hunter crossed his arms as they both made their ways back to the elevator car, going back up to the fort.

"I know it's your decision on whether or not Rodney gets Series Blue." she continued. "But right now, the Triggers have more testing and modifications to go through. I'm just glad Red and Yellow are online."

"Two might not be strong enough if these Shadows keep multiplying."

"As if I need enough pressure." she said with a light chuckle as the car halted and opened, Leyla making her way out first.

"I apologize. I'll let you go to work then. You're dismissed."

They both saluted and the vixen made her way back to her workshop.

~!~!~!~

**I know his face. I know his name. I've never met this person in my life...and yet I have known him since I was 12. Bastion Hitarnok: my old sparring partner. I have memories of him when we used to train on my home planet. So many things puzzle me though. That symbol on the escape pod is the same one on the ship I had crash landed with. And that medallion around Bastion's neck...it has the same symbol on the door here.**

The wolf had set up a small fire in the dimly lit cave. Though the storm was strong, the foundation hardly shook or budged. While he waited, Kayden reached over to the robe and removed two tube-like devices from the falcon's belt. The tubes were carved at an angle with a banked switch on the side. Once the wolf pressed it, a long energy blade came out from the top. Kayden's ear twitched and he moved to the shadows for a second; Bastion was starting to stir.

"Unnh...my head...talk about a wipeout..." The falcon turned his head. "W-where am I?"

"Safe. You been out there any longer you'd be easy pickings."

Bastion turned his head to the shadows. Kayden's body was there but his head was still in the shadows.

"Ummm...thanks? You didn't answer my question. What planet am I on?"

"Keigo, the dune cascades."

"Funny...I didn't expect this place to be a desert. Your voice though…you sound familiar."

Kayden chuckled. "Yours hasn't changed much. Bastion."

The falcon gave a confused look, slowly transitioning to one with curiosity. "…no way. This has got to be a mirage."

Kayden stepped out from the shadows and knelt down, draping his arm over his knee, placing his goggles on the top of his head. "I was thinking the same thing."

A curious squint led to a bright, wide-eyed smile. "...Kayden?"

For the first time in a long time, a smile curved the wolf's lips.

"What the hell happened to you!?" exclaimed Bastion. "I thought you were dead! You had everyone worried. Especially me. I wanted to turn the ship around to go back and get you but we didn't have time."

The wolf's ear perked up. "...ship?"

"The escape ship, don't you remember? The one everyone on Zanthion got on before the planet exploded?"

An awkward silence fell on the cave.

"You don't remember anything do you, man?" said Bastion, disappointed.

"No...sadly."

"Well, you might as well tell me what you've been up to at least."

**And I told him. About my time collecting artifacts, Leyla, my training under Hunter, the fortress, and anything else I could remember. It was a relief to know that someone from my past, someone I did care for both as a friend and and ally, was alive. He was my first actual training partner to spar with in the simulators I used to practice in. We knew each other so well. As a team we were unstoppable. We had two near opposite fighting styles: my fire with his telekinesis. Yet when we faced each other, we knew one another so well that most of our battles would end in draws. But never once did he complain. A year younger than me, a little less mature...but we clicked. We understood one another. And now, for the first time in a long time, maybe I don't have to be the tough guy I'm trying to be. But still...something didn't seem right. In the back of my head, something was telling me that Bastion landing here, of all places, was a coincidence. Something WILL add up.**

"All of this in nearly a year..." said Bastion, tilting his head at him.

"It feels much longer than that, honestly." The wolf said with a sigh.

"You've sure been busy."

"You could say that. Besides, I'm interested a little more in this." said the wolf, pointing to the medallion around the falcon's neck.

"Oh this? Well do you remember when my brother was given permission to bring me into the Falconites?"

"Vaguely."

"Well I got in! I'm a Falconite-in-training!" the falcon said excitedly. "We've been going around to other planets to find new Falconites."

"And did you?" asked Kayden.

Bastion shook his head. "We found more members then I thought but…then Syrallax caught up with us."

"Why does that name sound familiar?" asked Kayden.

"I thought you would remember him. He's the one who destroyed Zanthion, our home."

"What?"

"How far do the memories go?" asked Bastion.

"Up to when...my dad was murdered. " started the wolf. "That's the last thing I remember, it's complicated. Whenever I sleep, they come back to me in dreams. Fragments. But they're never in order."

"How long has it been happening?"

"For a few months since I've been here. There's one memory I've been looking for...that can tell me everything that happened. What happened to Zanthion, to my dad…everything. It's the memory after that. I need to find the link that brings them together."

The falcon smiled and patted his old friend's shoulder. "I know you'll find it. Hey, you found me so that's bringing back some memories right?"

"Obviously, or I wouldn't have rescued you." Kayden said with a smirk.

Both he and Bastion laughed. "Damn man. That's a little harsh."

"I'm kidding; you're my best friend Bastion. I remember when we used to spar, how we went through school, everything."

"Yeah, those were great times. But..." The falcon looked around him. "This place here sure doesn't remind me of home."

Kayden stood up and brushed off his shoulder. "Look, we'll talk about this a little more later; when we aren't in this sort of situation. We first need to get out of here."

"Well...since you sealed up the entrance, the only other way out is this door." said Bastion.

"I didn't have much of a choice. The sand would have gotten into the cave and we would have been both torn apart." The wolf walked over to the door and turned back to the falcon. "Bastion, do you recognize this symbol?"

"That door?" Bastion got up and glanced at the door. "...yeah...but I've never seen one up close before."

"Well you can read Falconi right?"

The falcon looked over and put his talons on the inscriptions. Kayden could hear Bastion mumbling as the inscriptions started to glow and circle around the door's frame.

"It's...an entrance to a Falconite Temple. From these inscriptions, basic mumbo jumbo warning stuff...but it's safe. I've learned so much from my brother, rest his heart."

Kayden crossed his arms. "Well...did he teach you how to unlock these doors?"

"Hmm...well maybe I was asleep during that lecture. Heh." the falcon rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I do. But it's been a long time since I've had to do it."

Bastion stepped back and so did Kayden. The falcon brought out his medallion and took it off his neck then took a deep breath before pointing it at the door. The medallion itself started to glow dark purple and a straight beam of light emitted from it, hitting the door. After a few seconds, a clicking sound was heard and the door began to slowly open outwards.

"Nice work." said Kayden.

**I made sure to bring the Turbo Cycle with me, just in case we needed to make a speedy recovery. We passed through winding tunnels and corridors. Bastion seemed to know where we needed to go thanks to that little medallion. We travelled for what felt like an hour when it was only 10 minutes. **

The wolf and the falcon passed through yet another door and instead of ending up in another corridor, they ended up in a much larger room then the others they were in. They were in what they could only assume was the main chamber. There were doors on either side of the room with a large pool in front of them and in the distance was a foreboding door, taller than the one they got into the temple with.

"…they sure look a lot bigger in person." said Bastion, looking around.

"Where are we, exactly?" asked Kayden.

"Um…I'd take a guess we're in the main chamber. I THINK there should be a backdoor to the outside somewhere here."

Kayden's wandering eyes looked to the side of the room with a staircase leading up to another door.

"Then let's not waste any more time." said the wolf, getting onto the Turbo Cycle.

Bastion nodded and got onto the cycle as well. The engine revved up and the cycle levitated in the air, zooming over to the door where Bastion's medallion unlocked it. They passed through a corridor and found that the wall had been broken with a hole leading into the mountain.

"Looks like someone broke in." said Kayden.

"These walls are thick though. Maybe they blasted through here to get in?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if Shadows had anything to do with this."

Bastion blinked. "Shadows?"

Kayden said no more as he guided the cycle through the hole. There was a silence for a few moments before they almost dropped down into another tunnel system. Bastion held onto Kayden as the cycle slid down the tunnel but the cycle stopped before falling any further. The wolf guided the cycle down the rest of the tunnel and they soon appeared in a large oval room with the remnants of cocoons laying around.

"…oh no." said Kayden under his breath.

"What the hell are all these?!" asked Bastion.

"A Shadow Worm nest." The wolf said, looking to the hole that led through to the outside. "…heading right for the fort."

"You still didn't answer my question, buddy."

"I'll explain later." The wolf said, revving the engines.

The Turbo Cycle rocketed away and out the hole and down the mountain, heading back to the fort as fast as the engines would allow.

~!~!~!~

Leyla and Hunter had done their best to hold off the attack, but the numbers game was quickly catching up to them. All of Leyla's bombs had been sent rocketing back at her by the Shadow soldiers, leaving her the victim of a massive blowback. She crashed through wreckage and landed next to some broken cars. Her suit had started to fizzle and it dematerialized off of her, back into her Trigger. Hunter raced over in his all red suit, slashing through some of the other Shadow soldiers.

"Well, these guys aren't playing around this time." said Leyla.

"I don't understand either." said Hunter."There are more of them here then last time. I suggest then that we regroup."

The panther helped the vixen up and opened his communicator.

"Are our men safe back in the fort?" he asked.

"Most of them made it inside. And I'm fine, thank you for asking." said the vixen.

Hunter pressed a few buttons and brought it to his mouth. "Open the force field and let us in. When we get in, lock it up and send the rest of our troops to the turrets. That should buy us some time."

There was a fizzle on the other side though. Hunter shook the communicator.

"I said come in!" yelled the panther.

"No need, sir! Help's on the way!" said Kayden.

"Kayden?" said Hunter. "Is that you?"

"Yes sir!"

Hunter seemed stunned. "But how-"

"Later. We have bigger problems. That tremor that shook the cave when that thing crashed, it disturbed a Shadow Worm nest not far from the cave. I'm on my way back with a survivor from the meteor. Turns out it was an escape pod that landed just about two miles from there. Tell me if you see the flare."

"What flare?" asked Leyla.

Leyla looked over the horizon and she saw a flare shoot up into the sky.

"Get everyone in there, I'm gonna be coming in hard and heavy." said Kayden as the communicator shut off.

"Well?" asked Leyla.

Hunter sighed. "Kid's crazy...but our choices are limited. Let's go."

As Leyla and Hunter fought back to the opening of the fort, the door started to open and the roar of a Turbo Cycle echoed throughout the air. The second the panther and vixen got in, they saw Kayden zoom past the Shadow soldiers but one of the soldiers slashed the back part of the engine. The back part of the cycle suddenly dropped and collided with a rock, sending the cycle into the bay area on its side. Kayden and Bastion had jumped free but the cycle crashed against the wall, the back part severely damaged and the front looking just as worse. The moment Kayden got up, Leyla ran to him and hugged him tight.

"Thank god you're alive..." she said, burying her face into his neck. "Don't EVER do that again, Kay..."

Kayden tensed at first but hugged her back. Rodney and Hunter both looked at the falcon.

"And you would be..." asked Hunter.

"Bastion Hitarnok."

"Nice Jedi get up, Obi-Wan." laughed the young panther.

"Not just a get up, kid. I'm the real deal." Said Bastion with a smirk.

"I've heard many stories...but I have never met a Falconite before." said Hunter, examining the falcon. "I was expecting someone much older."

Bastion chuckled. "Well a Falconite in training is still as good as a real Falconite."

Kayden stepped in between them. "Ok, glad we got everyone all met up with one another; now let's find a way to stop those Shadows before they break past the field."

~!~!~!~!~!~

Inside the fort, the wolf and falcon regrouped with the others in the room nearby the loading bay. Hunter and Leyla were at the table, looking over a map of the area. Bastion and Kayden were off to the side along with a distressed Rodney. Eventually Bastion nudged Kayden, whose fur was on end.

"Dude, you need to chill." said Bastion. "You're making the whole room hot."

"Huh?" The wolf's fur slowly went back. "Oh. Sorry."

"You're really stressed." said his friend.

"…is it that easy to figure out?" Kayden sighed heavily. "I can't just sit here and wait knowing those things are eating away at the force field. We don't have any time! Those freaks are right at our doorstep!

"Then what would you suggest we do?" said Hunter, still looking at the map. He had heard what Kayden had said, and then he raised his head to the wolf. "Risk the lives of our soldiers? They stood no chance against the worms."

"Well like I said, we shouldn't just be sitting her waiting." replied Kayden.

"I don't understand though." said Leyla. "We beat them so easily last time and now we had to use both Series Red AND Yellow and we didn't even make a dent!"

"Come on, Leyla you must have some sort of weapons against the worms." asked Rodney, hopeful.

"I don't have time to build anything new. We're already losing power for the force-field."

"Then how much time do we have?" asked Hunter.

The vixen walked over to the computer and began typing, bringing up the outside camera of the fortress. "Well…in about 10 minutes the worms are going to steamroll right into the fort."

After a few moments of silence, Rodney stepped up. "…Dad. Let me out there. Me and Kayden can take them."

"No. I will not risk the life of my only son to the Shadows. You're not ready." Hunter said sternly.

"Oh give me a break!" yelled Rodney, stunning everyone in the room. "You've been training me for moments like this! And every damn time you tell me I'm not ready! Give me a chance. I've taken on Shadows before. I'm not as good as Kayden or Leyla but I'm still a fighter."

**I have to admit, the kid's got heart. But I've never seen him stand up to Hunter before. Leyla did raise a good point though. 10 minutes is all the time we have. And we don't have any new weapons or artifacts. Everyone's been evacuated except for the soldiers and even they can't fight as well as they say they can. Once again, my options have been severely cut down...unless...**

Kayden slowly stared at the briefcase on the desk. It was open and contained the Triggers for Series Blue and Green and the prototype for Series Black.

"I'll go." said Kayden.

"Oh no you don't." said Leyla. "You already risked your life enough today."

The wolf turned his attention to the sassy vixen. "Leyla. Please. Don't make me do this."

She titled her head. "…do what?"

"This."

Without warning, Kayden quickly snatched Series Black and Blue from the briefcase and ran out of the room.

"KAYDEN!" yelled Hunter. "GET BACK HERE. NOW!"

The others stopped nearby the balcony of the loading bay. Kayden had stopped right by the entrance gate that was already closing.

"That is an ORDER." Hunter said sternly, once more.

Kayden smirked and ran out the door. The vixen shot a bolt of thunder that held the doors just barely from closing.

"Oh no you don't!" yelled Leyla, quickly running after him.

Bastion flinched for a moment then groaned as he leapt over the balcony. He raced to the door with an outstretched arm and used his telekinesis to keep the door open as he raced through. Leyla had arrived a second too soon and the door locked in front of her. Hunter had already started to rush down to the bay.

"Get that door open now!" He barked at the person behind the panel.

"Sir, I can't! We don't have any defenses down there!"

The sandstorm outside had died down leaving Kayden and Bastion standing in front of the door. The soldiers and worms had finally stopped arguing and turned their attention to the duo.

"What th-why are you-" stumbled Kayden.

"Don't even think for one second you're going to be the lone hero this time." said Bastion. "You can't beat them all on your own."

Kayden looked at him and smirked. "Oh yeah? Neither can you."

"Well then consider this payback then, mate." said the falcon, throwing off his cloak, revealing a tank top with crisscrossed belts forming an X on his chest. He quickly drew both of his blades and clicked them on. Leyla, Hunter, and Rodney watched from a computer screen inside.

"What in the hell are they doing?" said Hunter to himself.

"I can't believe this…we haven't even tested the prototype ." said Leyla, busily typing on the computer.

"I hate to be the mood killer," said Rodney. "…but they are Shadow meat now."

Kayden looked down at the prototype device then back at the window before getting into a stance at the worms and monsters. They were all getting ready to attack but the duo stood their ground. Drawing his Defender, Kayden leapt into action. Slashing through the first horde with ease, Kayden leaped past the worms and began firing blaster shots at other sections, slowly starting to get rid of the outside Shadows surrounding the fort.

Bastion was running along on the ground, skillfully slicing through patches of the horde. The falcon thrust his palms forward, causing a wave to emit from the falcon's hands. Several more of the grunts went flying back as Bastion used his telekinetic powers to fling and slam grunts into one another. The duo worked like a unit together, taking turns slashing through the monsters with deadly accuracy. After a few minutes, a huge chunk of the troops had been wiped out. The wolf and falcon landed next to each other.

"You haven't changed a bit." said Bastion.

Kayden smirked and looked over the troops but his ears soon dropped as there were now MORE Shadows then before, with bulkier armor. And they were all armed.

"This definitely wasn't in the simulators though." said Kayden.

"They need to get out of there now!" yelled Leyla, trying to use thunder to open the gate. But the door was way too reinforced to make a dent.

Bastion was about to make a run for it before Kayden grabbed him and presented him with the Series Blue wristlets.

"Oh no he is not." said Leyla.

"And you're giving this to me Kayden because…?" asked Bastion.

"This isn't a game anymore, Bastion." he told his friend. "I'd say it's about time we show these guys what happens when they mess with some REAL firepower."

Bastion took the Trigger and looked at him weirdly. "Dude, we're-"

"It doesn't matter. We don't have any more time now." The wolf looked back at Bastion and then turned back, raising his fist up, then placing the Trigger on his wrist, holstering his Defender.

"Follow my lead." said the wolf.

Bastion quickly locked on the Trigger wristlets and brought them out to his sides. Kayden flipped open the device.

"HENSHIN!" he yelled, spinning the disc on the inside of the Trigger before pressing down on it.

Bastion quickly followed suit by bringing the wristets together and crossing them..

"HENSHIN!" he yelled.

The devices started to whir and two hologram shields appeared out from the scanner ports. The wolf and falcon extended their arms at their sides and the shields passed through him. Arches of electricity shot out around them in small explosions, a powerful light blinding everyone around them. When the dust had settled, two figures, one in a black and red battlesuit and one in a blue and white battlesuit, emerged. Leyla looked at her computer screen and saw the suits power bars go up on her screen.

_**DNA Binding Sequence Complete. Series Black Toro FULLY OPERATIONAL.  
Series Operator: Kayden Seyak.**_

_**DNA Binding Sequence Complete. Series Blue Timer FULLY OPERATIONAL.  
Series Operator: Bastion Hitarnok.**_

~!~!~!~

Both Hunter and Rodney stared at the screen along with Leyla. Hunter shook his head in amazement.

"But how did..." Hunter started then paused. "That's impossible!"

Leyla put on her headset and typed a few things on the computer screen.

"Kayden, are you there? Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear." replied the wolf.

"Doing fine too, thanks for asking." said Bastion.

"Good." said Leyla. "I thought the DNA binding might have done some heavy damage to you both."

The Shadows, although stunned, grew tired of staring at the two new figures and all of them charged. Kayden just stood there but when they got close enough, Kayden dashed sideways leaving behind a fiery blur. Bastion dashed off in the opposite direction, hoping to distract the other Shadows. Kayden brought his hands together to create a small fireball but when he expanded his hands, the ball got to be the size of a basketball. The wolf flung the ball through some Shadows, making them explode.

"Nice!" laughed Rodney. "Those guys just got toasted!"

"This power, I've never felt anything like this." Said Kayden.

"Be careful then." said Leyla. "You don't' want to overpower the suit. It's still a prototype!"

"Any tricks for me?" asked Bastion.

"It's a flight suit." added the vixen. "I added pulse thrusters to it for a little extra boost."

"Good. Let's give this a real test." said the falcon.

Wasting no time, Bastion activated the thrusters and leapt into action with both of his blades. The Shadows began to swarm at Bastion but the falcon was ready, diving in to slice through some of the Shadows. He landed on the ground and ducked under several slices, blocking attacks to counter with quick attacks. He back flipped and used his telekinesis to send his blades flying like boomerangs into even more of the Shadows. The section that had originally surrounded him was now gone and the falcon landed on the ground, catching his blades.

"Perhaps he could be of use to us." said Hunter.

"I'm all in." smirked Rodney. "Guy's got mad skills!"

Kayden leaped onto some of the wreckage and began firing quick shots from his blasters, stunning the worms. Some of the soldiers climbed onto the wreckage but were met with swift forearms and knees. The wolf leaped off the wreckage and drove both of his knees into a soldier's face, knocking him back then the wolf smoothly brought out his Defender, extending the blade. It was much longer and glowed dark red. The others watched as Kayden effortlessly sliced and torched the soldiers, flipping around and knocking them every which way. Within minutes, the Shadow's battalion had been destroyed.

"They just took out the whole fleet like they were nothing." said Rodney, in amazement.

Now the worms were next. Kayden blasted one of them with fire, but it hardly left a dent. Dashing away, he ran up the side of the fortress and flipped off, landing on the worm. The wolf drove the sword straight through the armor, causing the worm to shriek in pain as it fell on its side and dematerialized.

"Nice one!" said Bastion.

Another worm tried to charge at Bastion but he turned and thrust his palms forward, flipping over the worm. With its underside exposed, Bastion threw his swords and they cleaved into the worm to make it dematerialize.

"…the same to you." smirked Kayden.

Two more worms gained on Kayden but he back flipped and found their exposed backsides, igniting them on fire. While the worms flailed around, Kayden stood back and pressed the button on the top of his Defender, holding it like a rifle once more.

"SPECTRE BLAST!" yelled the wolf.

The ball rocketed out and made the worm explode into pieces. Kayden kept his Defender up and tilted his head to see a bigger worm, the last one, left standing. Bastion regrouped alongside him.

"Uhh…Kayden, we should probably get out of here." said Bastion.

"I got this. " said the wolf. "SPECTRE BLAST!"

Another ball rocketed out of the Defender but it simply deflected off of the worm.

"You're kidding me." said Leyla, narrowing her eyes at the screen.

Kayden was quickly charging up another shot but the worm smacked Kayden hard into the wall with its tail, causing a slight crack in the wall. As Kayden tried to get up, the worm wrapped its tail around the wolf and constricted him, causing Kayden to groan in pain. Bastion saw this and tried to use his powers to loosen the grip.

"Come on, that thing's gonna crush him!" yelled Rodney.

"Come on Kayden...fight it..." murmured Leyla.

The worm's massive mouth opened and was ready to envelop Kayden. He looked up to see that the inside of the mouth was fleshier then the outside armor. With a smirk, Kayden brought his palms up and started to torch the inside of the worm's mouth. The worm screeched in pain and dropped Kayden allowing the wolf to roll back against the wall.

"You okay?" said Bastion as he rushed to his side.

"Yeah…I'm good." said the wolf through pants. "Leyla. Tell me you have something up your sleeve for me."

Leyla thought for a moment. "Umm well...I...wait, yeah I think I do! I'm downloading it into your suit NOW. Stand by."

Kayden nodded and suddenly, his suit glowed and he could see codes through his visor. His Wolf Defender blade began to glow dark red.

"Nice touch." remarked the wolf.

"I know." said Leyla. "This should get through his armor. Activate weapon attack: SPECTRE SLASH."

"Spectre Slash." He nods. "You got it."

"Anything for me?" asked Bastion.

"Had you not taken it BEFORE I got it fully operational, I might have gotten something downloaded!" yelled Leyla.

Kayden looked towards the worm and charged in with Bastion, both of them working together to hack at the armor. Within moments, there was an opening in the armor for Kayden to strike. The wolf looked at his Trigger and put in the code three-three-five. With a turn of the dial, Kayden brought the blade down and ran his hand along the blade, coating it with fire. He grunted as he felt the power surge through him.

"SPECTRE SLASH!" yelled the wolf.

Pulling the trigger on his Defender, Kayden jumped and zipped forward like a ball with the blade, spinning in the air and slicing straight through, making the worm explode. He landed on the ground and looked up to see no one was left. The wolf slowly got to his feet and raised his wrist up.

"P-power down..." said the wolf.

Bastion pressed a button on one of his wristlets. "Power down."

Both suits glowed and then turned into pixels, returning to their fort door started to open as the others rushed out to aid the wolf. Hunter stood back while Leyla, Bastion, and Rodney helped Kayden up.

"DUDE!" laughed Rodney. "You both kicked some serious ass! You had the whole fort cheering you both !"

"I'm not surprised." Kayden said between pants.

"Are you ok?" asked the vixen.

"Never better." remarked the wolf. "I'm sorry that I had to do that."

Leyla crossed her arms. "Well you could have given me some warning."

"Don't bother." chuckled Bastion. "Kay Kay's always go first, ask questions later."

Kayden looked up to see a very stern Hunter looking at him. The wolf slowly got up and walked to him, standing in front of the panther with a solid face.

"What exactly makes you think that you can break and bend the rules to when it's most convenient to you?" asked Hunter.

"Sir, I was just trying to—"

"It's bad enough you disobey my orders once, albeit with good attentions, but what you did was reckless and it could have killed you."

Kayden smirked. "But it didn't."

"That is NOT the point, smart mouth." said Hunter with a glare.

"Then what is it sir?" asked Kayden. "Can't you live in the moment once? The first thing, the VERY FIRST THING, that you taught me was to adapt. If you knew you could do something, you would do it. I saved Bastion's life simply on a hunch. I saved this fortress, albeit with good attentions, by taking an even bigger chance but now the odds are on our sides."

"Don't you use my words against me to get you out of this, Kayden."

"Look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing. Or at least...something along those lines."

Bastion, Rodney, and Leyla looked on at the silence between the two of them.

"You've always prided yourself on having the last word haven't you?" asked Hunter.

Kayden was silent this time.

"Then I'll find some means of punishment for you. Yes, what you did was heroic but orders are orders Kayden. No exceptions."

"Yes, sir." said the Wolf.

Hunter then turned to the falcon and eyed him. "…as for you, falcon. You're an unknown entity here, a survivor. Had Kayden followed his orders, you more than likely would have vanished with the sand but, he chose to save you. It's admirable but if you ARE going to stay here, you will earn your worth . You can either be useful or dead weight and we have no use for dead weight here."

"Wow, doubting me even AFTER I helped save the fort." the falcon chuckled. "Thanks."

"Just because you are now the operator for Series Blue doesn't get you ANY special privileges." said Hunter.

"I'll handle him, Hunter." said Leyla. "He'll have to go through testing to see how Blue handles with him. I'll keep him busy and if he screws up, he'll make a great test dummy!"

"No pressure." said Rodney with a smirk.

Hunter looked to Leyla and then to both Kayden and Bastion before nodding and walking away. Rodney and Leyla returned their gazes to Kayden and Bastion.

"Well, I think it's safe to welcome you to the team." said Leyla.

"Glad to be a part of it, if that's alright?" asked Bastion.

"No objections here." said Rodney. "And what about you, oh fearless leader? Is he in?"

The three looked to Kayden who smiled lightly at Bastion. "…the more the merrier, I'd say."

"Sweetness!" said Rodney, starting to head to the door.

Leyla gave Kayden a hug and smiled at him before walking away. Bastion patted his shoulder before walking as well. Kayden's eyes turned up to the sky.

**Everyday felt the same to me with very little variety. And then one day all of that changed. Fate has a funny way of telling us things. Maybe it's decided to deal me a better hand and if it has, I intend to make the best of it now. My name is Kayden Seyak..and my story is about to begin.**


	3. Written Salvation Part A

**PROJECT FLARESTORM  
EPISODE 3: Written Salvation  
WRITTEN AND EDITED BY ZAK KAYES**

As long as Hunter and Leyla had scouted the desert, they knew that they had not even scanned half of the vast ocean of sand and terror. It was always changing due to the sandstorms, changing the landscape day by day. Scanners were able to uncover certain landmarks and the Citadel, the city looming in the distance, was the only structure that stood even the mightiest of sand storms. What the storms couldn't touch were the mountains, far away from the ravine where Kayden found Bastion. Little did the team know that deep within the mountains laid the source of their problems, the Shadow Hive Nest. Shadows would creep through the mountains into the desert, roaming the area as if it were their turf, their yard. In the mountains, the caverns were the breeding and training grounds for the creatures known as Shadows. The caverns formed a labyrinth of sorts, some narrow tunnels while others massive areas. They had taken up mine shafts within the mountain to patrol. Going into the mountain would be a death trap but for a select few, they had the run of the place.

In the higher areas of the mountains, a laboratory had been built for private testing and was in surprisingly good condition after the bomb had dropped. The lab had a room for testing, a room for studying, and for "experimenting". Exiting from the laboratory was a bat hybrid wearing a white labcoat over a black tanktop, black gloves, and blue jeans. He looked like any other scientist except for the mysterious mask on his face, a silver and black color scheme with the black covering over the eyeholes to make them look like sunglasses. Spreading his natural wings, he took flight off of the bridge leading to one of the caves and flew down, gliding down to one of the lower parts of the cave where two royal guard like figures were waiting. He stopped in front of them and lightly saluted. They both nodded and uncrossed their spears, allowing him to pass.

The bat crossed into what many would call a throne room. Sitting on the throne atop a makeshift staircase sat the Shadow Queen, a mysterious four legged creature resembling that of a wolf. It sat on its haunches; claws lightly tapping on the hard rock floor like it was waiting, patiently. As the bat walked through, the wolf's head raised and stared at the male across from her.

"You summoned me, my Queen?" asked the bat.

"I've been informed you have made significant process on your machine." The wolf said, its muzzle not making a single movement.

"Significant. I've been harnessing the power from the crystals that have been gathered here in the mountains. Their power source is suitable for the machine and I believe we have enough to start Phase Two."

The wolf nodded its head lightly. "And what of Project Flarestorm?"

"Using the satellite in Keigo's orbit, I was able to track the position of the solar flares. You'll be pleased to hear that they will reach this planet within a week."

"A week." the Queen repeated, stopping the tapping on the floor. "…that will do then. You are dismissed."

The bat started to turn then stopped, his eyes narrowing. "Last I checked, Tamuri, you were not the boss of me."

"But I am the boss of an entire legion of Shadows." She said, slightly irritated with the bat's tone. "You may have created me, Geno, but you will do as I say if you wish to get off this planet alive."

"It's Zero." the bat corrected, the queen merely tilting her head in amusement. "Geno died when the bomb dropped. It's DOCTOR Zero to you."

"The title means nothing to me." She said, raising her paw and flicking the wind like a fly. "You will tell your two, for lack of a better term, assistants, to continue leveling the remaining bases hidden in the city as well as any others in the desert."

Zero clenched his fist slightly before exhaling and nodding, bowing his head and turning to leave. He knew just where to find his two "assistants." He made his way up through the top of the shafts and got to the entrance, heading outside. The view from the entrance was remarkable. Even from there he could see the Shadows down below patrolling. On the side, watching the action, were two figures. One figure was a mongoose, standing next to an open battlesuit with a detachable I-pad like device that showed schematics for the battle suit. He wore small sunglasses just on his nose line, a white tank top, brown jeans, brown wrist guards, and black combat boots. On the black battlesuit were the initials K.N.G. There was a clear visor over the face with light armor on the legs and arms. The gloves, torso, and boots had heavier armor.

"Got a job for us, Doctor?" asked the mongoose, eyes glued to the device in his hand. His accent was thick, southern almost. "Or just the same ol', same ol'?"

"Unfortunately the latter, Cyrus." said Zero. "I'm assuming the Defense Suit is fully functional?"

Cyrus nodded as he closed the device, folded it in half to show one screen, and attached it to the wrist of the battlesuit. He turned to look at the doctor.

"Just about, all I need is a test run." he said. "These things are harder to put back together then you realize."

"Yet you managed to do so with the necessary parts. Quite a challenge."

"I like a good challenge." the mongoose remarked smugly, crossing his arms and turning to the other figure on the edge of the cliff. "Hey Titan! We got the usual today."

Watching from the edge of the cliff was a Shadow twice the size of a normal hybrid. He wore chest armor and a helmet with horns. He turned to the sound of his name being called and walked over to Cyrus and Zero, looking down at them both.

"I'm starting to grow tired of constant patrols, Zero." said Titan, his voice that of a low distorted growl.

"You may have fresh meat." said Zero. "The forts you have raided have put up little resistance but several scouts have reported certain individuals with suits similar to yours, Cyrus."

Cyrus shook his head. "I find that unlikely. These suits are one of a kind."

"They're just punks in tin cans that we can squeeze and crunch till their blood pours out." said Titan, smashing his fist into his open hand. "How hard can they be?"

"We hear anything from the insider there, Zero?" asked Cyrus.

Zero shook his head. "Nothing yet. The insider has been particularly quiet as of late."

"Well then, when you DO know something, let us know." said Titan, walking away from the two.

Zero nodded at Cyrus and left. Cyrus looked at Titan before going to the open suit and stepping inside, letting it close around him and turn on. Cyrus stretched before walking to Titan.

"The Professor's been pretty quiet on what he needs those crystals for." said Titan.

"I ain't questioning it." said Cyrus. "Now come on, we got our playground to patrol."

Titan nodded and made his form change, wrapped in darkness to turn into the shape of an ATV. Cyrus hopped aboard and revved the engine, going off the edge of the cliff and firing up the thruster on the bottom to provide the hovering ability. It soared over the mountain, making a beeline direct for the city in the distance.

~!~!~!~

Less than twenty four hours removed since Bastion's arrival, the falcon had already found out how radical the lifestyle on the desert was compared to the life of a Falconite. He was woken up early and put on cleaning duty in the mess hall. He had decided to ditch his robes and pick out some new clothes. He chose navy blue jeans, grey sneakers, and a tan hoodie. It had been awhile since he had worn casual clothing but it was nothing new for him. Using his physic powers and telekinesis, he was able to help out everyone with the heavy work. When it was time, everyone got their breakfast. It wasn't anything fancy but Bastion was flexible, unlike most of the other soldiers who felt they were eating leather and oatmeal.

After he ate, the falcon made his way towards the training room. Rodney was already there, training with his tanfa against a wooden dummy. Bastion watched this from afar before smirking slightly. He used his telekinesis to start making the dummy fight back. Rodney was smacked in the back of the head and he immediately got into a stance before eyeing the dummy.

"Ah, wise guy huh?" he said, flipping his tanfa. "I could cut you down to size, broski!"

The dummy simply began moving back and forth and then smacked Rodney again. Rodney was about to attack until he heard Bastion's snickering. He turned and crossed his arms.

"That is so not fair." the young panther said, crossing his arms.

"Combat isn't supposed to be fair, is it?" said Bastion. "You think everybody you're gonna fight will be like fighting training dummies?"

"Well, it's a start." he said. "I'm doing just fine on my own, just ask my dad and Kayden."

"Really?" Bastion chuckled as he walked over to one of the training mats and then undid his belt, taking off the holsters for his energy blades and put them down on the ground.

"What are you doing?" asked the panther.

"Seeing is believing, if you catch my drift."

Rodney looked at Bastion, watching as Bastion stretched and got into a stance. It clicked in Rodney's head and he smirked, standing across from him.

"Come on, you haven't seen my skills birdboy!" laughed Rodney. "Hand to hand I can beat ya in ten strikes!"

Bastion watched Rodney, keeping his stance. "…did Kayden ever mention me?"

"Nah man, he doesn't talk to me. Ever." He shrugged. "He tells all his secrets to Leyla."

"Good. Then you don't know what to expect."

Bastion smirked, getting out from his stance to put his hands in his tilted his head and stepped forward only to suddenly trip and face plant on the ground.

"GAH! W-what the-!?"

Bastion smirked, watching Rodney get to his feet. Rodney tried charging but he suddenly decked himself in the face with his own fist. He stumbled and suddenly began hitting himself and tried yet again to move to Bastion.

"OH COME ON, THAT'S CHEATING!" yelled the panther.

"I didn't see us make any sort of rules. Neither will your opponent."

Rodney was suddenly lifted up by his leg and dangled in the air, suddenly being swung around before he was dropped on the ground. He groggily got to his feet and this time leapt at Bastion. Bastion blocked the three fist swipes with one hand in succession before evading Rodney's kick, grabbing his leg, and twisting him down to the ground. The falcon kept Rodney's leg twisted, making Rodney squirm and groan in pain in the hold.

"That's enough, Bastion." said a voice.

Upon hearing the voice, Bastion released the hold and Rodney scuffled away, holding his leg.

"Damn man, did you WANT to break my leg!?" yelled Rodney.

Bastion rubbed the back of his head nervously and turned sideways to see Leyla walking towards them. Her attire remained the same except for a black full tank top. She stopped by Rodney and knelt, looking at his leg.

"You'll be fine." she said. "There's no tear or strain but it might be funny to walk on for a few hours."

Rodney pouted and got up, walking away to leave Leyla and Bastion looking at one another. Bastion gave a light salute but Leyla's face didn't change until Rodney left, turning into a smile.

"You should see how he trains with Kayden." she said. "He doesn't use his powers against him. Not often."

"Well wouldn't you have to against those things out there? You're gonna get shredded going hand to claw with them."

Leyla nodded. "That doesn't mean you should constantly rely on your powers though. Hunter helped train the soldiers here and I gained experience from training with them. Everyone here gains something and there's a constant evolution. We're one of the few bases left out here and we NEED to be ready."

"You sound just like my brother." said the falcon. "He'd say pretty much the same things, always watching my back. I admit I'm a bit out of practice."

"Well then, no time like the present, eh?"

Bastion watched Leyla get into a stance. "…I guess not."

"No powers though. Let's see how good you really are."

Leyla watched Bastion's actions as he got into a stance. The two watched one another before Bastion threw a punch. To his surprise, Leyla caught it in her palm, aimed a knee at his stomach, and suddenly flipped him over. Before Bastion could move, Leyla brought her two fingers down to a pulse point on his neck and kept them there.

"Ah. Don't move." she said.

"I-I thought you said no powers?"

"I did. That's a pulse point right there on your neck. You'd be surprised what two fingers can do as opposed to a whole leg submission."

Bastion smirked. "…like I said, out of practice."

"That won't be a good excuse in the end though." She said before taking her fingers away and she extended her hand to him. "…but it's like my dad used to tell me, there's always room for improvement."

Bastion looked at her hand and smiled, getting up and stretching.

"Come on, we need to run some tests on Series Blue." she said.

Leyla turned and began making her way out of the training area while Bastion followed.

"Morning turning out good for you, hun?" she asked.

The falcon crossed his arms. "Nobody's tried to kill me so that's a start. I got called lazy though for using my powers to help with the cleaning."

"That's because the soldiers here, mixed with the others, don't like to take the easy way out. They earn their keep, like how Hunter expects them to."

"How long have you guys been here?"

"Almost five months."

"Yikes. How do you survive here with such little equipment?"

"You'd be surprised." she chuckled. "We were fortunate to find this fort, there's plenty of food we discovered here. Hunter told me the military here had developed synthetic food. Water, food, just about the basic necessities get recycled. There's roughly 30 soldiers now. There used to be almost 80."

"Until those things got to them?" he asked. Leyla solemnly nodded. "…I see. By recycled I take it—"

"Yep. It's not the way I agree with but food is food. The process is actually simple."

"Then how much food and water and necessities do you have left?"

"…a year. After that, we're gonna have to make a run for the other side of the desert."

Bastion nodded. "Sorry for bringing it up."

"It's all good, Bastion." She said, looking up to the sky. "We make do with what we have. I know we're gonna find a solution to all this before that time comes."

The two talked as they walked across the bridge, leading to Leyla's workshop. The workshop was a two story building, one of the few in the fort, with a fox tail painted on the door. Bastion opened the door for her and she stepped through.

"Thank ya." she said.

"My pleasure."

~!~!~!~

The elevator doors opened and Kayden stepped through, looking around before making his way to the back. The guards noticed Kayden and nodded, allowing Kayden to pass. As he passed into the Observatory, he looked around before stopping in the middle of the room. He noticed Hunter standing, looking out to the desert. The wolf joined him and stood beside him. They both stared into the distance, the Citadel a looming landmark.

"…may I ask something, sir?" asked Kayden. Hunter lightly nodded. "Everytime Leyla, Rodney, and I come up to receive a mission from you; you're always standing right here, looking out to the Citadel. I never questioned it before but before we get to the topic at hand, why? Why are you always looking out to there?"

There was hesitation from the old panther. "…because it's my home. Perhaps you haven't noticed, Kayden, that with all the sand storms that have passed by, the Citadel is still standing."

"You've kept quiet about your home. Out of respect, I've said nothing."

"Every day and night I wonder how much Rodney and I's lives have changed since the bomb dropped. Everything changed. Imagine, Kayden, having your entire life changed and then being forced to deal with it, to fend for yourself and to simply survive. Can you imagine what that must be like for everyone here?"

Kayden crossed his arms lightly and looked up to the sky. "I don't have to."

Hunter turned his head to Kayden then turned it back. "…I look to the Citadel and choose to remember its glory. Some of the soldiers look to it as one giant tombstone."

"If it means anything, sir, I know that one day you'll be able to get everyone to the other side of the planet. You told me there's shelter there, the other side has wanted nothing to do with this side because of the Shadows."

"Exactly." said the panther, turning to walk back to the table nearby the middle of the room.

"You're not still upset over yesterday, are you?"

"Upset is not the word I would use, Kayden. More so, I'm worried some soldiers are going to believe that recklessness is acceptable."

"…Hunter." It was rare Kayden would call the panther by his first name. "I didn't have a choice."

"I realize that now. Had you and that Falconite not stepped up, the fort would have been lost." He then turned his head to see Kayden walking beside him. "But that doesn't change the fact that those suits could have killed you both."

The wolf crossed his arms. "So are you going to strip us of those Triggers then?"

"I couldn't do that even if I wanted to." he said. "The news has already spread around of what you and your friend did. Bastion is his name, I believe?"

Kayden nodded.

Hunted lowered his head as he looked at the table. "I don't want my troops ending up dead thinking that being reckless and rushing in without a plan is the solution. We've lost enough troops and we need to keep our numbers up. We've heard nothing from the other bases so we can only pray they are doing their best against the Shadows. I don't pretend to be the leader, I AM the leader Kayden. And despite what you did, I need to show the troops that you are not an exception to the rules."

"Rules are made to be broken, under the right circumstances—"

"Not mine. From now on when I give you an order, you follow it. Understood? I say this because I do not want to lose any more soldiers to the Shadows. And if an order can't be followed by me, I have a feeling one by Leyla is one you will listen to."

Kayden said nothing before going to the other side of the table. "…understood."

"Now…for your punishment: you're going to the Citadel."

Kayden blinked, looking down at the table and then Hunter. "…sir?"

"Leyla showed me some interesting results this morning, concerning the location of a laboratory; Dr. Francis Geno's laboratory, to be exact."

The wolf crossed his arms. "You don't say? And it's somewhere in the Citadel?"

"Yes. Leyla has the coordinates. The fastest way to the Citadel is through the tunnels. Throughout this side of the planet there were several subway tunnels and there's a station two miles from the base. You can walk there; it would be faster since leaving the vehicles there would leave them exposed."

"Are we going to walk to the tunnels there?"

The panther shook his head. "Fortunately some of the subway cars are still operational, given the right amount of energy. There won't be a sandstorm for at least four hours, so there's how much time you'll have. You'll take the car with Leyla, Bastion, Rodney, and Syran to the city, get to the lab, retrieve as much as you can, and get back in time."

"Mmhmm…it's been awhile since I've talked to Syran. Why her though?"

"Because she knows that city as well as I do and I trust her. Plus, I've put her in charge of transportation. Is that a problem?"

"Not at all, Syran's one of the few who isn't afraid of me."

Hunter nodded. "…one last thing, before you go: …about Bastion."

Kayden lightly smiled. "I can vouch for him, no question."

Hunter stood up straight, his hands behind him. "He says he's a Falconite-in-training yet he has more power then he realizes. Everybody here earns their keep and I trust Bastion will do so. My question, is he trustworthy?"

"I've known Bastion since I was twelve, sir. He's one of the fiercest fighters I know and the type of guy you want on your side. You can trust him."

The panther nodded. "Good. But he is your responsibility."

"Understood."

~!~!~!~

The interior of the workshop was less messy then Bastion had expected. He noticed a staircase heading upstairs to a door and six glass chambers holding five battlesuits. The few tables had various bits of junk on them including one table that had two weird machines looking over it. There was also an open space marked "Suit Testing Zone".

"So, gonna give me the grand tour?" asked Bastion.

"The area's pretty self-explanatory." She replied, pointing to the Zone. "Would you mind going over there and activating your suit?"

Bastion nodded and walked over to the area, standing in the middle of it.

"I'm not gonna explode or anything am I?" he asked.

She shook her head. "The chances were high last time. The power cores are still a little unstable which is why I've spent as much time as I can to fix and modify them. When we first got to this place, there were five of them in storage with an empty sixth chamber. The military used these as defense suits but they were just suits of armor before. When you have someone as skilled as me, I can make these suits much more than just tin cans."

"Impressive.. Sounds like you think highly of yourself and I don't blame ya." He said. "So if I'm Blue and Kayden's Black, what does that make you?"

"Yellow. When I began modifying these suits, I used the artifacts we've been collecting to add special effects to these suits."

"And added a bit of color too? Better then spandex I'm guessing."

"Mmhmm. Now summon your suit."

Bastion nodded, raising his gauntlets and crossing them. "Right. HENSHIN!"

The blue suit disappeared from the chamber and a shield appeared in front of Bastion. It passed through Bastion, giving him his suit. Leyla went to one of her computers nearby, typing in some stuff.

"So what's your story?" asked the falcon. "I mean, if I can ask of course?"

"You may." She said, typing some things on the keyboard. "I used to be a mechanic on Orni-4."

"Orni-4?" he asked. "My people visited there a few times a couple of years ago."

"I know. That's why I recognized the symbol on your belt." she pointed to the Falconite symbol on his belt and sighed lightly.

"…I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your home."

"…yep…you and me both. I'm grateful it didn't go down without a fight." She said quietly.

"Right. Anything you want me to do?"

She nodded. "Test the thrusters for me, if you please?"

He nodded, turning them on. "Sure. Maybe later we test the other thrusters for the blasters?"

The vixen blushed slightly but chuckled. "Sounds tempting. But I have control over myself. The same goes for my past."

Bastion chuckled. "Nice transition."

"I did what I could to save everyone. I helped design weapons and security for the military back home. Before then I was a part time specialist in maintenance for the power grids. I'm going to say that, with all honesty, a mechanics job is dangerous. Your best friends are your tools and when you're as good as me, all this computer stuff you end up memorizing and reciting like spelling bees."

"I can relate to that." said Bastion, eyeing some of the commands through his visor. "Kayden told me you can control electricity? I know a few people that can do that."

"Not all of them are the same." she said with a smile. "I got this job one night to help decontaminate a circuit board that got covered in radioactive waste by some unknown guy. It was raining that night. I should have ignored the warnings but there were a LOT of credits involved. I don't remember much of that night. All I remember was the array getting hit by lightning, causing a power surge that charged the waste. The surge caused the array to explode and I got blasted with the super charged waste. I had never felt that much pain in my life…and then I woke up three days later."

"How'd you survive?" he asked.

"That's the thing, I almost didn't. I was legally dead for 15 minutes. They noticed something was up because I was emitting static."

Bastion dropped after the thrusters wore off. He raised his gauntlets up and watched them charge with energy.

"And they jumpstarted ya?"

"Like a car battery. Long story short, electricity was bonded into my DNA, giving me full control. I can start up a machine, shock someone from ten feet away, and channel electricity directly into my Shock Staff. At least I could help my dad before everything went to hell." she chuckled, eyeing the results. "Hmm, things seem in order. The thrusters are a little glitchy. You're the first to get it working."

"I should feel proud then." he chuckled. "How'd you even get the materials for this?"

"Hunter sends me, Kayden, and Rodney out into the desert to retrieve artifacts. The sand storms that pass through here cover and uncover certain areas so we investigate what we can before that window's closed. There's all sorts of things laying around. We call them artifacts though. Now about the suit, you've got the green light from me."

The falcon smiled before pressing a button on the wrist, demorphing.

"You look better in casual clothing. The robes make you look older." she said.

"That's the idea, Leyla." he chuckled. "I'm only 18."

"A woman never reveals her age. I'm sure you would know that."

"Right, of course I knew that. Listen, how about later tonight we get to know one another better? You're an intelligent girl, not many like that exist these days."

Leyla smiled, looking at the Battlesuits and then at him. "I guess we're an endangered species. I get what you're saying Bastion. I'm sure you're a nice guy but I've got my eyes set on someone else."

"That's what I figured. At least you were honest." he said walking out of the zone, smiling. "No hard feelings?"

Leyla nodded, a hand on her hip. "You took that rather well so no, none at all. Let's just say you made a good first impression. It's hard to trust people these days and some people can be your best friend or worst enemy."

Bastion nodded and heard a beep come from Leyla. "You beeped."

Leyla looked at her communicator and took it out, looking at the text before putting it away.

"Hunter wants us down in the garage. Kayden will explain what's going on. It looks like…we're going to the Citadel."

~!~!~!~

The walk hadn't taken the group as long as they had expected. It was a quiet day; no Shadows had shown up to attack them. Kayden led the group with Leyla at his side, Bastion and Rodney covering the back. Rodney fixed his hoody slightly before putting his hands behind his head.

"Ya know, I never thought I'd actually be able to go back home." said Rodney. "Dad's always told me that it's dangerous to go back."

"I don't blame him." said Kayden. "Somehow, this is his idea of punishment."

Bastion smiled lightly as he looked to the Citadel in the distance. "I never got the chance to come here. My people knew of Keigo though, they spoke highly of it."

"Somehow the city's managed to survive the worst sand storms." said Leyla. "The place is crawling with Shadows. Luckily, the stop we're looking for puts us in close proximity with the lab."

Eventually the group reached a cave by one of the mountains with a door. Kayden walked over and typed a code, watching the massive steel doors open like a hanger. They made their way down the steps through one of the tunnels before arriving in a subway like environment. There were was a train at the station ready, three cars attached. It was a grey cargo train featuring two cargo cars and a passenger car, the main engine in front. Attached at the very back was a car featuring a turret and through the windows weapons could be seen.

"Dad never told me we had a train!" said Rodney excitedly. "Talk about a whole new playground."

"Exploration can wait." said Bastion. "More than likely the tunnels will be crowded with Shadows too."

The group made their way to the front of the train but suddenly stopped when a silver and blue battle suit walked out from one of the open doors and stood in front of them. The visor was tinted, concealing the identity.

"Password?" said a voice from the suit, feminine yet robotic.

"Same as last time or did you change it again?" asked Leyla.

"You should know me well enough to know." replied the voice.

The vixen thought for a moment before smiling. "Butterscotch."

There was silence before the battle suit raised its hand and touched the side of its helmet, untinting the visor to show the face of a tan furred lioness. She saluted slightly and smirked before looking to the others.

"Sherbet this week actually but you were close. I see you brought the new guy." she said, then turning to Kayden. "Good to see you again, Kayden."

"Likewise." the wolf said with a nod.

"You know her, Kayden? I've never seen her before." said Rodney. "And I know everybody at the fort. So how is it I know you and—"

"You're not too hard to forget."

Rodney smiled and put his hands behind himself. "Really? I had no idea I was so popular."

"You're the brat who thought it was a good idea to almost blow up the kitchen four nights ago." she said, arms crossed. "A lot of soldiers didn't get to eat that night. You were lucky though."

"I like this girl already." thought Bastion to himself. Rodney crossed his arms and looked away embarrassed.

"Well, come on." She said, entering the cargo car and going to the back. "Time's a-wastin'."

The group entered the cargo car and looked around. There wasn't as much space as they had expected but they found a few chairs to sit down in. There was also a TV screen in the middle of the car. The battlesuit walked to the back and stood by one of the corners. It opened up and out stepped the tan furred lioness. She wore army style cargo pants, combat boot, and a bulletproof vest over a bronze tank top. Attached to her belts were two ninja sai. She stretched and wiped her brow, walking over to the group. She looked over to Bastion and extended her hand to him.

"The others know me but you don't. Name's Syran. Syran Jannings, proud member of the Kiego National Guard's Division 2."

The falcon acknowledged, shaking her hand. "Bastion. Bastion Hitarnok, Falconite in Training."

"Hunter didn't mention you were a Falconite." She said, deciding to salute him. "It's an honor to meet one up close, in training or not."

Bastion nodded before Syran turned back to Leyla. Leyla had walked over to nearby the engine and rubbed her hands, gripping the controls. She looked at a meter by the side and focused her energy, charging the train with electricity. Slowly, the meter began to rise.

"Work been keeping you busy, Ley?" asked Syran.

"Most of the time, yeah." replied Leyla before putting a hand on the other's shoulder. "I've been working on deciphering transcriptions from a Falconite temple yesterday. I haven't forgotten you, hun."

"It's lonely down here, you know." said Syran with a light chuckle. "Hunter's had me fixing up this old bucket of bolts."

"Can't take all the credit can you?" said Kayden.

"No. I needed your strength to gather the cars." she replied. She then turned to the others. "So! Word is you guys want to go to the Citadel, yeah? What for? Hunter wasn't specific."

"We found the location of Dr. Geno's laboratory." said Bastion.

Syran was turning to go the engine but froze suddenly when she heard the name. She clenched her fists lightly before looking at Kayden and Leyla who both nodded. She lightly sighed, her tone changing from quietness to light anger.

"…I see. Well, better we get there, get what we need, and then blow that place to bits."

Leyla was the first to break the silence. "All set to go!"

"Fire it up!" said Bastion.

The vixen nodded and she proceeded to flip some switches, powering up the engine before pulling one lever to start the train. It creaked and groaned as it began to move forward. Her eyes looked ahead before she pressed a few more buttons, examining the meters and computer screens.

"I'd say we are set up here." she said, turning on the TV screen to show the camera's first person perspective of the track ahead of them.

"How long till we get to the lab?" asked Kayden.

Syran looked up to the station guide by the door. "We're at the end of the Beta Line and the closest stop is nine stops from here, Kanoshu Drive. So a rough estimate would be half an hour, tops."

"It should be a peaceful trip, yeah?" asked Rodney.

"Let's hope." said Leyla. She then noticed Bastion looking out the window before trying to get comfortable in his seat. "You alright?"

"Just…what happened to this planet?" he asked. "It was beautiful the last time I came here. That was two years ago."

"You really want to know what happened to this place?" asked Syran, prompting the others to look at her. "Dr. Geno happened. It's because of him thousands of lives were ruined. And you'd think one person couldn't have done so much but he pulled it off."

"You never mentioned WHAT happened." said Kayden. "Just the same words, the bomb dropped."

"It happened eight months ago...Dr. Geno created the Shadows as a test experiment." started Syran. "Me and the others in Division Two had never met Dr. Geno but we all knew his son, Rigg."

"Rigg?" asked Bastion.

"Rigg was my…" she paused briefly. "…friend in Division 2 along with a man named Cyrus Arinto. We were the only three in Division Two and the rest of Keigo's National Guard were soldiers dispatched to the city when things got heated. When the Shadows started showing up in vast numbers, we were sent in to try and stop them from overrunning the city. We kept them at bay but we couldn't figure out why they were showing up all over the place. The higher up's wouldn't give us an answer so we went along with it. And then one day I heard the alarms. The KNG were issuing a city wide evacuation to the other side of the planet but…the outbreak was getting far out of hand. We tried issuing for help from the other side of the planet but they had different ideas."

As Syran finished, she looked around and exhaled slightly, her face trying not to show any emotion.

"According to the other side of the planet," said Leyla. "They saw what Dr. Geno had done and labeled him as a terrorist. They decided the only way that they could eradicate the Shadows was—" She paused for a moment when she saw Syran's reaction.

"With a bomb." said Rodney suddenly, quietly. "…the military bombed the Citadel because they thought they could wipe out the virus. But obviously it didn't work. Everything is gone."

"But what about this desert?" asked Bastion." It couldn't have been here this entire time?"

"I'm not sure. Coincidentally I showed up only two days after that happened." said Leyla. "I was bringing in a cargo ship from my homeplanet with soldiers. I landed in this fort and stored it underneath and that's when I met Hunter, Syran, Rodney, and the remaining soldiers of the KNG who survived."

"And the rest is history." said Kayden. "From what I've seen, these Shadows somehow survived the bomb and managed to…breed?"

"If I had that journal, this would make more sense." said the vixen. "And I know I perseverate on it but I can't help but think, as smart as Geno was, he must have actually made an antidote. If that's the case, we can work on finding a cure to the virus and more importantly figure out what was really going on in the city."

"His home's likely to still have his notes." said Bastion. "I don't exactly condone ransacking a dead guy's home but looks like we don't' have much of a choice."

Leyla looked to Kayden who gave her a nod.

~!~!~!~

Once the train had arrived at the station, the group made the decision of someone being left behind to guard that train. That position was left to Rodney, not by choice unfortunately. Kayden, Leyla, Bastion, and Syran made their way to the surface as quietly as they could. They knew that any sort of sound could attract the Shadows so they stuck to the backstreets.

"We're almost there." said Kayden.

Suddenly though, an arrow shot through the air and landed on the ground in front of the group, causing a mini explosion that knocked them back. Once the smoke cleared, they looked up to see a silver and black battlesuit, hovering down and landing. It looked similar to Series Blue only with the KNG letters and the silver and black. It held a black bow in its right hand and crossed its arms.

"Another KNG suit?" said Kayden to himself, pulling out his Wolf Defender.

"Ya think that little peashooter's gonna dent me, kiddo?" said a voice from the suit.

"…Cyrus!" yelled Syran, stepping forward. "I recognize that voice anywhere. Show yourself!"

The battlesuit didn't make a move until it raised its hand to the helmet, untinting the visor.

"…so." He said, coldly. "You did survive. What a shock."

"You don't sound thrilled to see me." said Syran. "What happened to you? We're on your side!"

"I don't care about sides." he said. "You should know that. Sides got thrown out the window a long time, Syran. Now it's about survival."

"Then we can help you." said Leyla. "We—"

"Ley." said Kayden, turning to her. "We don't know who this guy is. If we bring him back to base, especially with one of those suits, he'll put everyone in danger."

"Listen, buddy." said Bastion to Cyrus. "We don't mean you any harm. You've got one of those suits too so maybe you can help us out? We're trying to do the same thing."

"Is that right?" said Cyrus. He suddenly raised one hand and from the ground Shadows began to rise and take form. They stood before him at attention, growling at the others. "There's your answer."

"W-what the!?" said Leyla.

"He's controlling them like pets…" said Kayden.

"I wouldn't call them pets. They're soldiers. " said Cyrus with a smirk. "MY soldiers. "

The group drew their weapons and watched the Shadows cautiously.

"Leave him to me." said Syran.

"Then we'll take care of the Shadows." said Bastion, bringing up his gauntlets. "These are still far out."

Kayden looked at his Trigger before looking at Leyla and Bastion who nodded.

"HENSHIN!"

The three gained their suits and each summoned their respective weapons. As they charged in, Cyrus looked on in his suit, suddenly aiming his bow at Syran and shooting an arrow. Syran was quick to dodge and suddenly began running, engaging in hand to hand combat. Her sais clashed against the bow, pushing Cyrus back with each strike. He kept blocking before catching both sais, struggling with her, and then knocking her back. He sliced into her with the sharp ends of his bow, blocking a punch from her and kicking her back. He fired off arrows at Syran who quickly dodged them and rolled behind a car.

"Ya can't run forever, kitty." He said.

The car Syran hid behind suddenly jolted forward and slammed into Cyrus, knocking him back.

"DON'T call me kitty, you murderer!" she yelled.

While this went on, Leyla leapt into battle first, spinning her Shock Staff easily. The Shadows grabbed their swords and charged at Leyla, watching the vixen leap into the air gracefully, shooting arches of electricity down upon them. She landed and began thwacking the Shadows with the spiky part of the staff. She ducked under two swipes and smashed one Shadow in the face, delivering a jump kick that knocked it back. She hit another in the face with a back elbow and spun her leg around to clock it in the face. She blasted the Shadow in the face, making it disintegrate and struck another one making it vanish. She brought both her hands together and then suddenly created straight electrical beams. Spinning around, the beams sliced through a section of Shadows.

Bastion drew both his energy blades and clicked them on, spinning them in his hands before charging in. He leapt over one Shadow and threw a blade like a boomerang, slicing the Shadow in half. With one blade, he began hacking into some of the Shadows, making them disintegrate. Activating the thrusters on his suit, he leapt into the air and looked around his surroundings.

"Ah, a whole playground for me? It's not even my birthday. " he chuckled.

The falcon rose his hands up and a street lamp uprooted itself, swinging around to smash into some of the Shadows. Bastion sent a dumpster from the alleyway crashing into some more of the Shadows and was about to knock a car into them but he thought against it and landed on the ground, spinning with both his blades to slice the Shadows to pieces. A burst of fire accelerated through a chunk of the Shadows as Kayden dash through with his Wolf Defender, slashing Shadows to pieces. He shot multiple fireballs from his hands to roast some of the Shadows before pressing a button on the top of his Defender.

"SPECTRE BLAST!" the wolf howled.

The ball of energy charging from the Defender tore off and slashed through another part of the Shadows. Kayden ran and drop kicked one Shadow, pulling one down after yanking its legs away. He brought the Defender up and stabbed the Shadow making it disintegrate. Eventually the three were able to dispatch the Shadows, leaving the street clear.

"Hah, nothing to it!" said Bastion, turning off his swords.

The wolf's eyes wandered around before looking to Leyla. "Where did Syran and Cyrus go?"

Leyla turned to hear the sounds of fighting two blocks away. "Right over there. And are we just going to let them fight?"

"It's their fight." said Bastion.

"We'll only interfere if things get too heated." said Kayden.

Bastion chuckled. "Clever."

Syran and Cyrus continued to brawl along the streets, taking the fight to the next block by a school. Cyrus was smart to reserve his energy, staying in the air to keep a distance for shooting arrows. Syran had gotten hit a few times but she had shrugged off the pain, keeping an eye on her energy meter. She leapt off of one of the pickup trucks and speared Cyrus down, aiming hard rights and lefts to the head before being tossed off. She threw one of her sais at Cyrus but he deflected it and moved in like a blur, hitting rapid-fire kicks to her chest and arms, aiming a final one to the head that knocked her away. Another arrow causing an explosion sent her smashing through one of the windows into a classroom. Cyrus flew in and landed, arrow aimed at her.

"You should have stayed dead…the bomb would have been like a mercy killin." He said. "Now I got to wipe you off my record. Call it the real clean slate."

The lioness sighed. "It wasn't your fault. What happened back then—"

The bow was still drawn as the mongoose untinted his visor, interrupting.. "It doesn't matter anymore. I have NOTHING, Sy. I made my choices a long time ago and if you think that I'm worth saving, you're wrong. You and Rigg, you always walked the good path, you always had to follow the rules. And what did that get you? I had ONE shot and I didn't take it because of those stupid rules and my life went to hell! All of that because of one, singular moment!"

"I'm sorry. I am truly sorry for what happened to your uncle."

There was silence. "…sorry ain't gonna bring him back."

Syran closed her eyes and braced for impact as she heard the sound of an arrow…followed by a groan. She looked up to see Cyrus, dropped onto one knee as electricity wrapped around him. Her eyes widened behind her visor as, in the distance, she saw a silver and red battlesuit holding a silver bow standing on a rooftop.

Her tone became hushed. "…Rigg?"

The arrow in Cyrus' suit was draining him of his energy and he struggled to get back to his feet. Syran saw an opening and drove her foot into Cyrus' knee, dropping him face first onto her raised knee. She pinned him down on his back and smashed her fist into a board on Cyrus' back, breaking it open.

"GET OFF OF ME!" he hollered.

With the yank of some circuits, the suit began to spark as Syran watched. "Sorry Cyrus, but you're going to do nothing when your systems are down!"

Cyrus quickly scrambled away, seeing his visor show his systems offline. He quickly tried moving away but noticed his weapon and flight systems were down, static coming from his visor.

"This ain't over, Sy!" he yelled, pressing a button on his wrist to quickly teleport away.

Kayden, Leyla, and Bastion quickly ran over to check on Syran, helping her up. She looked past them to the rooftop but the battlesuit had vanished.

"You alright?" asked Leyla.

Syran nodded, a little shaken up. "Y-yeah, I'll be fine. L-let's just get to the doctor's house."


	4. Written Salvation Part B

A flash of light appeared inside of a laboratory, Cyrus in his battlesuit appearing in said light. He stumbled and quickly ejected himself out of his suit and dropped to the ground, panting in pain. He got up and rubbed his shoulder, ignoring the pain before going to the battlesuit, examining the damaged board on the back. He rolled his eyes and sighed in frustration before noticing the arrow sticking out of the back. He noticed the arrow before taking it out and examining it, putting it on the table. By one of the computers, he pressed a few keys before a picture showed up of a bat with short black hair and a military trench coat. He looked back at the arrow and then the face before turning and walking away quietly, a solemn look on his face.

~!~!~!~

The group finally reached their destination, a small two story house near the end of the block. It, like all the other houses, had lost its distinct features because of the many sand storms. Somehow the house was in good shape. They made their way quietly up to the house, Leyla leading the four of them to the porch. She brought up her Trigger, using it to examine the area before turning back to the others.

"What were you scanning for?" asked Syran.

Leyla reattached her Trigger. "A brilliant mind as Geno was, he may have put defenses around his house. Everything looks fine though."

Bastion watched Kayden head up the stairs, crossing his arms. "It wouldn't be like he hid the key under the mat or anything, right? Nobody just leaves their door unlocked."

Kayden gripped the doorknob before turning it and opening the door slowly.

"…I stand corrected." said Bastion with a chuckle.

The four stepped through the threshold, gazing into the dimly light first floor. The front floor consisted of the living room, dining room, kitchen, a staircase leading upstairs, a door to the backyard, and two other doors near the back of the foyer. Syran made her way up the stairs quietly, looking around.

"Mind giving us a light, hun?" asked Leyla to the wolf.

Kayden obliged, looking around for the light switch. He flicked it a few times, noticing the absence of light upon doing so. He looked around before deciding to close his eyes and make his fur glow.

Bastion smirked. "You still know that trick, huh? I tell ya man, you used to light up the festivals when it got dark!"

"You still remember that?" asked the wolf, looking to Bastion with a light smirk. "You tried using me to turn the festival into a rave."

"And it got turned into one anyway!" laughed the falcon. "Face it, you're the best flashlight I'll ever need, man."

Leyla noticed Kayden smile before going to look around the living room. The four split up to check the first floor, noticing the inside had barely been touched.

"No sign of forced entry or signs of ransacking." said Leyla, checking the mantle to spot pictures in brown squared picture frames. "Why leave these behind? They look like a happy family." She took one of the pictures of Rigg, a bat girl, Dr. Geno, and a woman and put it in her backpack.

"He vanished two days before the KNG issued the evacuation." said Syran, coming back down. "Nobody heard anything or saw him since then. If he ended up dying in the explosion, then maybe he got what he deserved."

"I ain't gonna pass any judgment on the guy." said Bastion. "Shouldn't there be a lab around here?"

Syran shook her head. "I checked upstairs and found just three bedrooms and a study. I found a journal though."

"What sort of journal?" asked Kayden.

She looked down at the journal in her hand and tossed it to Bastion. "I didn't open it. Think of it as some light reading. The two bedrooms I found were marked Rigg and Harmony. I took a peek inside, scans showed nothing of value."

Bastion looked over to the doors they hadn't checked. "Well we haven't checked this one here."

Leyla raised he Trigger to scan the door, noticing the meter's rise before walking over and trying to open the door but finding little success.

"Hmm, lots of locks probably mean something, yeah?" said the vixen. "Busting the door down probably won't work."

"I'm guessing it needs a key." said Kayden, examining the bookshelf by the mantle. "I mean if I was a mad scientist, I'd keep my lair guarded."

"Mad's not the word I would use." mumbled Syran.

"Syran, I want to ask you something." said Kayden as he glided his fingers on some of the books, searching for a switch. "Before, we saw an arrow glide into the window from one of the rooftops. Then Cyrus vanished."

"I know who it was." started Syran. "Only one other member of Division Two uses a bow: Rigg."

Bastion thought for a moment before touching a button on his wrist, showing a holographic photo of the figure on the roof. "I take it this is the guy?"

"Rigg Geno, yes." she said. "…how did he survive? We all survived…turns out we're very resourceful. What concerns me is whether or not Rigg is…well, to put it bluntly, sane. He never really was in the right mindset when he found out what his dad was up to. I could never get it out of him…"

A click was heard from the bookshelf as Kayden turned back. "Found it."

Leyla looked to the door as it slowly opened. Looking to the others, she nodded and slowly began to tread down the stairs, watching for anything that could jump out. They travelled down a winding staircase, the dim area illuminated by Kayden's glowing fur. They arrived in the basement, a few tables in front of them, a computer atop one, with lap equipment and charts put on the walls. To the right was a fiberglass cell and a bookshelf as well as one corner of the room with a large disc on the ground and a tripod with a camera set up.

"Wow…" was all Kayden could say to himself.

"Grab anything useful." said Leyla. "Look for a journal, notes, holo-disks, anything."

"I'm going to head up to the bedrooms." said Bastion. "I'm going to take more than a peek. It might give us some clues on Geno's family."

The others nodded as Leyla went to one of the computers, checking it over before trying to turn it on. She smirked lightly as she put her finger on the cable connecting the computer to the outlet, suddenly turning it on. She took off a USB attachment from her Trigger and plugged it in.

"Alright little box of wonder, show me what you got…" the vixen said to herself, quickly starting to hack into the computer. "Let's see…plenty of notes here. Experiment logs, he kept track of everything he did but why leave it? No…if I was him, I would have deleted all of this. Leave no evidence."

"You want me to say it or should I?" asked Syran, looking at Kayden.

Kayden shook his head. "…I don't think I need to. You and I are both thinking the same things. And it's not good." he turned and looked at the other tables, noticing some of the files sitting there before going to the bookshelf. "It looks like he spent all his time down here. There are books here on genetics, anatomy, and-…" he froze suddenly, a light gasp escaping his throat. "…and a journal..."

Leyla immediately stopped what she was doing and zipped over, grabbing it. Her eyes stayed focus on the symbol as she opened it, her eyes widening. "Is this…"

"Leyla, don't you find this suspicious at all?" said Kayden.

"Not if he had to leave in a hurry and he couldn't gather everything." she replied, skimming through the pages. "It's all right here. All of his most important notes, details on the mutation, and a list of names. Some of them have checkmarks by them."

"What sort of names?" asked Syran, walking over to examine them before she took the journal in her hands. "…these are names of KNG soldiers. At least a lot of them are, I don't recognize a few of these names. Why are there money signs on some of them?"

"We'll take a look at these when we get back to the train." said Kayden, picking up a case holding multiple holo disks inside.

Leyla nodded as she took out her USB attachment, putting it back on her Trigger. She filled her backup with some of the books she felt she needed, snatching some of the notes and other miscellaneous things she needed as well. Kayden did the same and came back upstairs, seeing Bastion coming down.

"Find anything?" asked the wolf.

Bastion held up a journal and the other one Syran had tossed her. "I did a double check. Rigg's room is bare but Harmony's looks like it hasn't been touched. It's still clean. You think they would have fled, Rigg got the right idea at least."

"Do you find any of this suspicious?"

"Of course I do. I knew this place looked shifty before I entered. But we got what we need, right?"

Kayden nodded before going to the door, looking outside and noticing a figure running along the rooftops. He stared before turning and heading back in.

~!~!~!~

The group wasted no time getting back to the train, avoiding any shadows they could. They had kept their eyes open for the two suits with their bows, realizing at any moment they could be attacked. But they'd be ready.

Rodney was there waiting for them when they got back, giving a light wave when he saw them. "Engine's got enough energy for the final run. We got about less than an hour before the storm hits so we should make it back in time. Did ya guys find anything?"

"Just exactly what we need." said Leyla with a smile, entering the train with the others.

The others entered and Leyla went to the head of the train, flipping some switches to fire up the engine.

"How are we going to get back home?" asked Bastion. "In reverse?"

"There's a way we can loop around." said Syran, getting out of her suit. "I studied the routes and some stations have a loop track. Fortunately, this station does."

Leyla left the room and went to one of the control panels, bringing up another screen. "And it'd be a hassle to handle all the switchers. But I patched directly into the mainframe and when you're as clever as me, and I'm not JUST clever I'm BRILLIANT, you can access it remotely right from the console here."

With a push of the button, the engine came to live and began to move. Leyla looked at the console's touchscreen and made a few adjustments before leaving and heading back to the other car. None of them were aware of a pair of eyes in the shadows, watching them and giving chase. He hopped onto one of the cars and entered, keeping a low profile.

"Hey Leyla." said Bastion. "Is it possible this train has a holodisk player?"

"You want to take a look at the discs we found?" asked Leyla.

"We got a ways to go." said Kayden. "It's worth a look."

Syran went to the back of the train and pulled out a black rectangular box, putting it on the shelf and opening it. The vixen dug through her backpack and pulled out the case of holo disks, opening it.

"Let's see here," she said. "We have…wow. More than ten, I'll say that."

"We should start from the beginning." Said Bastion.

Kayden looked to Syran who had her gaze looking out the window. "Syran? Do you want to watch?"

"I have no interest in seeing that monster's face again…" she said, narrowing her eyes. "But…if we must."

"Rodney?" asked Leyla.

"Didn't know my opinion mattered here." said Rodney in a nonchalant tone, arms crossed as he looked at the screen. "Dad's going to want to see this too."

Leyla nodded as she picked out the first disc and examined the dates. "Well, the discs are at least chronological so…we'll see what's on the first."

Bastion used his powers to take the disc out and put it in the player, watching it turn on. The television screen turned on to show the laboratory they were just in with a familiar looking bat in a white labcoat.

_I would like to mark this day of great importance, chronicling the development of my newest and more than likely final pet project. My name is Doctor Francis Saido Geno, age forty-two, former high member of the official Science Board for the Citadel. I have two children whom I love very much: Rigg, age twenty, is a soldier in the Keigo National Guard, one of the finest sharpshooters I have ever seen and Harmony, age eighteen, takes after her old man in her high school. She's a senior, a brilliant straight A student. My wife, Elsa, she passed away after giving birth to little Harmony, a story I have yet to tell either but fear they already know. As a single parent, funds for my research and for the maintenance of us three have become unstable. I was making a sizeable amount on the Board and for more than ten years I focused on helping my Board, I will still call them my board despite my unceremonious kick to the curb, in scientific breakthroughs. The advances we made in medicine, experimentation in crippling viruses, and evolution cannot be erased from their computers. My team is responsible for single handily stopping a biological outbreak and extinguishing it…yet there were casualties and they had to pick someone to blame. That unfortunately led to my termination. Over ten years of blood, sweat, and tears spent on making this city a better place, yes I have a right to be upset about that. Therefore, I am pouring my final resources into this project: the Shadow project, a project committed to creating the perfect antidote to the perfect virus. With this, this antidote will be the cure to all known diseases and they WILL bring me back. They kicked me out because they needed to put the blame on someone. No one on my team should have lost their jobs. I'm not just doing this for me; I'm doing it for the good of hybridkind…_

"Bullshit." muttered Syran. "I have a hard time believing any of that. Good of hybridkind…was this his vision? Yeah, really smart…"

"It's hard to form an opinion on just one tape." said Kayden. "Put the next one in."

The next tape showed Dr. Geno sitting in a different location with a low muffled noise in the background.

_With limited funds I do not have much room for error. These experiments are taking place under extreme certainty. No guessing, only certainty. After two days of researching, I am ready to log the first experiment. Synthesizing a virus is particularly challenging but, with the proper chemicals and assistance, even a cure can become a virus. I realize what I am doing is dangerous but this is a desperate time. After proper synthesizing, I present Shadow Strand A. Cultivated from dead body cells, which my group had worked on for some time; the Shadow virus will increase strength, speed, and dexterity on a superhuman level. It's to be injected directly into the bloodstream and can be controlled via your mind. I know this because I have begun testing on domesticated…animals. Our dog, Yanto._

Everyone's eyes widened as the camera turned to the fiberglass cell where a dog was snarling, slamming itself into the glass. Its fur was on end, black as night, with its eyes a crimson red.

_Subject One has received mixed success. His uncontrollable behavior has me concerned as rage was not a considered possibility. He may be reacting negatively to the virus, perhaps it may even be killing him, it's now or never to test the antidote. My daughter, Harmony, has been helping me create it. We only have one shot at this._

The screen changed to static briefly and when it returned to normal, the time stamp had changed to two hours later. Yanto was on Dr. Geno's lap, his black fur and red eyes having return to normal.

Leyla shook her head lightly in amazement. "…what?"

_Subject One's exposure to the virus and antidote are a success. Behavior has returned back to normal though he is slightly fatigued due to the sedative given included with the antidote. It appears the antidote is able to also heal previous injuries such as Yanto's left leg that was dislocated prior to this experiment. If it is able to heal previous injuries, it is imperative I step up to hybrid trials._

"He used it on his own dog?" said Rodney in disbelief.

"To be fair, testing on the dog was a bit extreme." said Bastion. "But he got the antidote to work, just like you said Leyla."

The next disc was put in, revealing the same lab but on a different table, showing a green hedgehog with a KNG military outfit.

Syran's jaw nearly dropped. "…Warren?"

_Subject Six Warren Heymin, local soldier of the Keigo National Guard: you are the first hybrid to be exposed to the Shadow virus. The past has been using domestic animals that have been successful upon using the virus and the antidote. Do you acknowledge that you willingly accept to be used for the good of hybridkind, in hopes of advancing the fields of science?_

Warren nodded.

_Good. Then we shall administer the virus and when it is fully integrated into your bloodstream a sedative will be used combined with the antidote, where you will return to your normal state._

The others watched Dr. Geno give the virus to Warren and the tape began to speed up slightly. They watched as Warren entered the cell and exhibited the same behavior that Yanto did though much more violent. Syran looked away, refusing to acknowledge the screen. They saw Dr. Geno administer the sedative and antidote, and then the static occurred with the time stamp jump only this time, Warren was still stuck as a Shadow, chained up in the cell.

_I should have expected this…Subject Two's reaction to the Shadow virus is critically negative. His heart rate and vitals are erratic but what is most surprising is that the antidote had no effect. Perhaps there was a miscalculation and it is…unfortunate that said miscalculation cost this hybrid his life….I'm sorry._

A gunshot was heard and Warren slumped to the ground, a bullet in his head and the tape ended. Kayden looked to Syran and reached a hand out to touch her but she moved away, a look of disgust on her face.

Syran sighed lightly. "Warren Haiman…he always made the best sandwiches for us when he could. He firmly believed being in the KNG would help boost his self-esteem…he was married, I met his son once. Sweet kid…and that bastard just murdered his father because he screwed up, to cover his mistake. Nobody knew what happened to him."

"Syran…I'm sorry." said Kayden.

"I knew everybody in my unit." continued Syran. "And almost all of those names were in the journal…with money signs."

"You think Dr. Geno got money for them?" asked Kayden.

Bastion nodded. "He was low on funds. So perhaps he did favors? Money can make people desperate and I've seen that first hand."

"Two more." said Rodney. "I'm curious to see how much further this goes."

Though he was hesitant after seeing Syran's reaction, Bastion picked out the next disc and put it into the player. The location had changed to Harmony's bedroom, showing Dr. Geno sitting by his daughter's side and administering the Shadow virus. The time stamp jumped following the static, showing the location change back to the laboratory and the cell. Harmony wasn't chained but she was seen going through a transformation. Her body was changing and becoming more Shadow like. Her fur turned completely black and her eyes became fully dark, the irises turning pale yellow. Instead of lashing out and being feral, she collapsed. Static, camera shift, the camera went to Dr. Geno.

_Subject Seven is my own flesh and blood: Harmony Rose Geno. She was born with brittle bone disease but that hasn't stopped her from being independent. When she was younger, she had a few falls but I discovered she was able to heal from her injuries fairly quickly, within a matter of hours in fact. Through a little bit of science and certain vitamins, Harmony developed a healing factor. Just for cuts and bruises. Once I had finished creating a new Shadow strand, created by combining Harmony's DNA and the original Shadow strand, I gave it to Harmony…with surprising results. Her vitals register as normal but…the strand seems to have combined with her DNA, making her, I believe, half Shadow. I may have finally found the break I'm looking for. I trust the serum with her, as well as the antidote. She'll know what to do with it._

The others watched the disc end, sitting there in disbelief.

"And now his own daughter." said Syran. "Now she's just an experiment."

"Great parenting on his part." said Kayden, noticing Rodney's reaction.

"Try to think of it from the positive side." said Bastion. "As hard as that is. Wherever she his, IF she survived, she may have the cure."

"We know Rigg's alive." said Leyla.

"What's on the last tape?" asked Kayden.

"We're about to find out…" said Rodney quietly.

The last disc put in put the setting back in Dr. Geno's laboratory.

_There's not much time left. After seeing the positive success the Shadow virus has had on my daughter, I have come to conclude there is something in my daughter's blood that allowed the virus to bond. Therefore, after the money I received from the KNG soldiers through other connections, I am ready to create an artificial Shadow. As risky as that sounds, I have faith this Shadow will follow my instructions. I need another lab assistant, what with Harmony's current condition and Rigg deciding to devote his attention entirely to the KNG. To my knowledge, he doesn't know about what's happened to his sister. I…intend to tell him. This Shadow will be in my image. He will have my thoughts, my memories, my theories, my ideas, he will essentially be ME. However, I do require a physical body to implant this new strand…and desperate times call for desperate measures, unfortunately._

"…no." said Leyla, jaw down in disbelief.

The camera jumped to the cell with Warren's dead body and Dr. Geno putting the Shadow virus into him.

_This will be the first time testing on an individual with a ceased life stream, my belief being that it will be able to bring back the person as a full Shadow._

The time stamp jumped to two hours later with Warren's dead body going through the changes, physically changing his appearance from a hedgehog into a bat, now looking exactly like Zero, his eyes opening.

_Subject Zero is born._

The last disc ended and the group sat in silence for a moment. Syran had left the car halfway through to avoid seeing her former friend in his new state. Leyla left as well to check on her, leaving the boys alone.

"So I guess the rumors were true." said Rodney, solemnly. "Please tell me I'm not the only one thinking this guy's a murderer AND a nutcase."

"The former is true." said Bastion. "But the latter isn't. He actually made the antidote and it's with Harmony. We find her; we find the antidote, yeah?"

Kayden shook his head. "I don't think it's that simple, Bastion. There's a few more discs though—"

A yelp was heard from one of the cars, prompting Kayden and Bastion to rush through one car, spotting Titan trying to attack Leyla and Syran. The door had gotten ripped off for the cargo section of the train, leaving a wide enough hole.

"He trashed the turret car!" yelled Leyla.

"How the hell did he even get in!?" yelled Kayden.

Titan growled, swiping at the two girls. "You got something that belongs to my master, hybrids! HAND OVER THE JOURNAL!"

Kayden blasted Titan in the face with a fireball but to no avail. "Not a chance!"

"Then I'll just take what belongs to you!" replied Titan, suddenly grabbing Leyla and knocking Syran back. He jumped out of the car and began running in the opposite direction.

"HENSHIN!" yelled Kayden, quickly gaining his battlesuit and jumping out.

"U-uh…HENSHIN!" yelled Bastion, gaining his battlesuit, looking back at Syran. "You two get back to the fort, we'll get Leyla."

Syran shook her head. "You don't have much time, what if you don't get back in time!?"

"We WILL." said Bastion. "Keep the train going!"

Syran nodded, quickly heading to the other side of the train. Bastion fired up the thrusters on his suit and gave chase to Kayden who was chasing Titan and Leyla.

"I hope you know what you're doing, buddy." Said Bastion.

Kayden shook his head. "Honestly, I don't. Just like old times!"

Leyla struggled in Titan's grasp, eventually being able to reach her Trigger. "HENSHIN!" She yelled out, gaining her suit.

She jammed both her hands onto Titan's face, electrocuting him and letting her free. Kayden and Bastion landed next to her and drew their weapons, looking at Titan. Titan got back to his feet and summoned his hammer, looking at the three.

"Storm's coming, kiddos!" said Titan. "I'd hate to have to destroy you so soon!"

"Pretty big assumption there." said Bastion. "You don't mess with the three of us!""

"What do we do then?" said Leyla to Kayden.

The wolf activated the blade on his Defender. "We stand and fight. Like a team."

"Now that's what I like to hear!" laughed the falcon.

Bastion leapt into battle first, spinning with his blades and clashing against the hammer handle. Titan knocked him back, prompting Kayden and Leyla to leap over him, attacking with their weapons against his armor. Their attacks did little damage but they avoided the swipes from the hammer, trying to get behind him. Bastion looked around for anything he could use before turning to a siding, noticing the train cars there. He flew over and yanked one of the wheels off with his powers and waited for his chance. Leyla channeled energy from the tracks and fired a continuous beam of electricity at Titan that he blocked. Kayden used the same method with his fire, pushing Titan back slowly. Bastion sent the wheel flying at Titan's back, stunning him. Bastion attacked from behind, attacking the armor at its weakest points.

"Go!" yelled Bastion. "Get back to the train, I got this!"

Leyla nodded and looked at Kayden. "Wanna test the super speed on this?"

Kayden nodded and took Leyla's hand, watching the suit whir and glow yellow. With tremendous speed, it began racing along the tracks back to the train. Bastion clashed against Titan's hammer before being knocked back with a kick. Titan swung his hammer and it smashed into Bastion, knocking him out of the air. He rolled on the ground, getting up to face another shot that knocked him into the wall. He growled, getting up and retrieving his blades. He swung them and this time blocked against the hammer. Thinking, he sliced into the chest armor of Titan, knocked him back, and used his powers to snatch the hammer and slam Titan into the wall. Bastion grinned and powered up the thrusters, zooming away towards the train. Leyla and Kayden had arrived back on the train in one piece.

"You alright?" asked Kayden.

She nodded quickly. "I can always count on ya huh?"

He nodded and looked to see Bastion in the distance flying towards them along with Titan in his vehicle form. Bastion landed neatly on the open part of the train.

"All taken care of, Kay!" said the falcon with a light salute.

Before Kayden could say anything, Titan had caught up to them and reverted to his normal form, shooting two tendrils onto the side of the car, one wrapping around Bastion. Bastion nearly jumped when this happened and powered up his thrusters. Two more tendrils appeared from Titan, slashing into Kayden and Leyla, demorphing them. They quickly got up to see Bastion struggling and holding on for dear life. Kayden, seeing this, suddenly felt a surge of the Shadow infection inside of him, triggered by the sudden rush of adrenaline and anger. His eyes suddenly became pure red and the arm that was bitten suddenly began to emit black smoke.

"…Kayden?" asked Leyla, stepping back.

Kayden growled and suddenly sprinted, sliding under Bastion and pointing his infected arm at Titan. To everyone's surprise, black fire erupted from his palm which struck Titan in the face, knocking him loose and onto the tracks. Bastion dropped on top of Kayden who grunted and suddenly flipped him off, getting up and growling lowly at Leyla and Bastion. Seeing them in their shocked states, he reverted to normal and held his head, passing out on the ground.

~!~!~!~

The three had gotten back to the fort just in time as the sand storm began to roll through the area. Kayden was immediately taken back to his room, privately by Leyla. Bastion wasn't allowed to enter for an hour or so but he waited patiently, looking around before seeing Leyla come out.

"Well?" he asked.

"He's fine." She said, calmly. "Give him some time to rest."

"Not until you can tell me what the hell happened out there."

Leyla sighed. "Bastion—"

"He is my best friend." said the falcon, staring at her. "I have a right to know. He and I have been through a lot, after his mother died, I was one of the only friends he had. You think you know Kayden well enough to know all of his secrets?"

"This isn't about whose the better friend, Bastion. He's hurt."

"Yeah and I wonder by what?" he said. "Oh wait, you won't tell me. I've seen enough freaky crap today, seeing Kayden acting like…THAT is scary."

The vixen thought for a moment before checking to see if anyone was around. "…he's infected."

Bastion gasped slightly but took it in, crossing his arms slightly, looking away. "…and he didn't tell me."

"He's scared. When he crashed here, I found him being attacked by the Shadows. He was bitten, infected. That's what those Shadows do; it just takes ONE scratch or bite. So I had to give a serum with as little chemistry knowledge I had."

"…so he's on borrowed time, then."

Leyla shook her head. "Not with this journal, I can make the antidote. I may not know him as well as you do but when I first met him, he was scared. All he told me was that it was his fault his home was gone…and he cried. I was there for him during that moment. That sort of trust is very hard to just give out."

Bastion nodded. "Then can I see him?"

"Go ahead. But nobody can know about this. Please. I barely know you but I am putting this trust in you."

"I have a habit of people telling me their secrets." He said with a light chuckle before seeing Leyla's serious face, becoming serious as well. "Right."

She turned and began to leave, leaving Bastion to enter Kayden's room. Kayden was awake, without his jacket, sitting on the edge of the bed. Bastion closed the door behind him and leaned against it lightly; looking at Kayden and watching his head turn towards him.

"…hey." said the wolf.

"Show me." said Bastion.

Kayden was silent before sighing, moving his arm up to show the infection on his arm; it had grown slightly, faintly glowing. Bastion moved closer and knelt by the side of the bed, examining the arm. He was careful not to touch it, looking it over.

"…how long?" asked the falcon.

"A few weeks." said Kayden. "All I can remember is the feeling of falling, knowing that it was my fault, and guilt. I woke up in the ship and there were these creatures attacking it. I fought them off the best I could but they bit me. I thought they almost got me till…she showed up."

_Hey! Come on, I know you can hear me! …vitals are dropping, crap…come on, stay with me hun! Woah, woah, relax! You're safe! …name's Leyla, what's yours?_

"You must really like her, huh?" said Bastion.

"Huh?"

"Come on, man. It's obvious. The way you look at her, the way she looks at you…you were never the best with the ladies."

Kayden shook his head. "Well we can't all be social butterflies."

"You don't like her then? Well I guess she won't mind me getting to know—" he was cut off by the sound of Kayden's low growling. "…never mind then. That's the answer I thought. Listen. We need to get out of here. We need to get as far away from here as possible."

"No."

"Sooner or later my kind will find me here." Bastion's tone became serious. "They can handle all this stuff, taking out the Shadows. They can get rid of this stuff in ya so you won't have to feel like you're going to die any second."

"Not without her." said Kayden, firmly.

Bastion blinked then smirked, standing up. "…funny how you said HER and not everyone else…I know what you mean though. I told Leyla I'd keep things under wrap. But sooner or later, people will figure it out."

Kayden nodded and Bastion patted his shoulder before leaving. He made it to the door before turning back.

"…Kay? You really think that journal's everything Leyla's making it out to be?"

The wolf hesitated. "…honestly? I'm hoping so."

With that, Bastion opened the door and left, leaving Kayden sitting in thought.

~!~!~!~

_So…they have the journal now?  
Yes.  
And they didn't suspect a thing?  
They found it suspicious. Just leave them out of this.  
They already sealed their fates.  
Don't, Cyrus. Please.  
You put on a good show today.  
Cyrus.  
But sooner or later, they'll figure it out.  
It doesn't have to be this way.  
Unless you want a full scale invasion on one little fort?  
…no.  
Then continue to monitor. When the time comes, we will strike.  
You think you can stop them all?  
I KNOW I can, Syran. I KNOW I can…_


End file.
